Oblivious
by Lady Deathstryke
Summary: Chapter 20! END. Possible Epilogue. Read and Review. I am sooo tired now...
1. Chapter One

Oblivious  
  
A/N: I'm sorry to the fans of Silent Screams. I'm terribly stuck on Chapter 28. It's been rewritten a thousand times and still not happy with it. So, I've decided to hand write it while I'm on trips and work on this story while I'm home. I'm very sorry if the updates seem slower than usual. I promise as soon as school starts back up (Sept. 9th I think) I'll be able to transfer documents much more because half of the day, I'll be working with computers. So, all what I need is a disk! LoL! Anyway, I hope this keeps you entertained. I already have like, half of it done, so updates are either once a week or twice a week. Read and Review!  
  
Chapter One  
  
She sat there, staring deep into the eternal struggle of milk versus coffee, ignoring the drone of her peers as they talked. She thought it strange that coffee could be so many colors, yet, taste the same when she took a drink. Suddenly, she felt an annoying tapping on her arm that could not be ignored. She lifted her head up, staring at the petite brunette, muttering out her tired words. "Yes?" She smiled brightly, her perfectly straight teeth gleaming. She squinted. "What?"  
  
"I whitened my teeth!"  
  
She glared solemnly. "Really?"  
  
She nodded and smiled, her brown hair bouncing as she nodded. "Considering how much coffee you drink, Quistis, I think you should too!"  
  
She sighed at that point, pushing her chair away from the table of three and lifting her cup to trash it. The girl behind her frowned and shrugged, turned and continued talking to the other brunettes. Quistis placed the cup in the trash and continued on towards the door. Suddenly, a blur of mixed colors ran by her and she nearly fell over. If it weren't for the strong arms of another, her head would be in the trash. "Careful there, sweet stuff."  
  
Quistis knew that voice all too well. He lifted her up back to standing position and smiled. "Yes, Irvine?"  
  
"Go to dinner with me tonight..."  
  
She sighed and tried to side step him. He knew her moves all too well and followed each and every side step and turn. Quistis paused for one second and frowned. "Please let me by?"  
  
"Not until you answer my question." He smiled once again and winked at her. She shook her head and walked past him, her arms crossed. Irvine was not a person to give up. He quickly spun around and followed her. "Please?"  
  
"What is this, Irvine? Your hundredth time asking me?" Quistis sighed in confusion. She didn't know why Irvine had asked her so often to go to dinner. He could have his pick of the litter, considering that he was a hero.  
  
"Hundred and eighteenth to be exact." Quistis spun around, glaring at him. "I won't stop asking until you say yes."  
  
"Well, looks like I've got a lot to deal with then."  
  
Quistis spun back around just as a voice boomed over the intercom. "Would Quistis Trepe, Irvine Kinneas, and Squall Leonhart please report to Headmaster Cid's office immediately. I repeat, Quistis Trepe, Irvine Kinneas, and Squall Leonhart."  
  
The message ended and Quistis sighed. She walked over to the elevator and pressed the up button. She felt a hand wrap around her shoulder blade as the elevator was on the second level. "Irvine, please. My answer is no."  
  
He sighed. "Oh come on! Just one dinner! What's that gonna do, kill you?"  
  
Quistis walked into the elevator followed by Irvine. She pressed the third floor button and sighed once more. "Well, I don't know. Considering half the faculty and student body that you have taken out, yes, it would kill me."  
  
Irvine frowned once again. Suddenly, he pressed the stop button and grabbed Quistis by the shoulders, pinning her to the wall. "Please?"  
  
She glared. "Irvine...this is lowering your chances of me saying yes."  
  
He smiled his genuine smile, something rare for him. "If I wasn't sincere, why would I ask this many times?"  
  
She stared into his violet-blue eyes and blinked. "Because I'm the last piece of fresh ass."  
  
He released his grip and pressed the go button, all the while chuckling. As they reached the third floor, his chuckling echoed throughout the elevator. Quistis glared at him as he walked off and waited for her to walk off. She walked in front of him, only to feel a hard hand come in contact with her behind. "Well, Quistis, you are getting a bit older and lazier with your workout."  
  
She gawked at him as he sat down in the waiting area. "What is that supposed to mean?" she bellowed out as she marched over to him. He grinned and stared up at her. "Tell me!"  
  
"Go to dinner with me."  
  
"No."  
  
"Then that's my answer too."  
  
Quistis glared at him and sat down next to him. The elevator beeped and went down to the first level. "Are you saying I have a flabby rear?"  
  
His eyes darted away from any vision of her. "Perhaps..."  
  
He could see what she was doing. It was either she was glaring with that wild passion he loved, or gawking like she's never done. Suddenly, he felt a hard fist come into contact with his shoulder. "Jerk!"  
  
"Ow!"  
  
The elevator beeped again, its doors opening only to reveal her true desire. She sighed softly, ignoring the whelping of Irvine and looked up at what should be considered a God. He was strong, handsome, and everything a girl wanted. Irvine may be the swooner of the ladies, but Squall did the real swooning. He turned his head over to Irvine and Quistis and walked right up to them. "Hey," he mumbled out.  
  
"Hey man, what's up?" Irvine raised his hand and with his other hand, wrapped his arm around Quistis. Squall sat down next to Irvine and suddenly moved three inches. "Ow!"  
  
Squall raised one eyebrow and turned and looked at Irvine. "My answer is still no, Irvine!"  
  
"Everything ok?" Squall asked in his non-caring way. They all knew he cared, or else he wouldn't ask. But the way he said it was so cold and cruel some found it hard to believe.  
  
"Oh of course, Squall! The little lady is just being difficult," the smooth operator said with a wink towards the man.  
  
"Please, Irvine. I would never be your little lady. Ever." With that said, she stood up and walked across the hallway and sat on the floor. Squall let out a small chuckle, which soon stopped with a glare from Quistis.  
  
The fighting stopped as two large doors opened up and revealed the headmaster himself, Cid. "Afternoon. Squall, Irvine, Quistis," he turned and looked at Quistis funny as he said their names. "Dare I ask why you're sitting on the floor?"  
  
"No," she muttered out, still glaring at Irvine who simply smiled.  
  
"Right. Anyway, if you all would come and join me in my office?" he said as he played with his vest. Quistis got up and walked in first, taking a seat in the middle chair. Squall came in next and sat to her left while Irvine took a seat to her right. Cid closed the doors and walked to his desk and stood in front of it. "It's mission time."  
  
The three nodded their heads. Although they were honorary SeeD members, and got paid the highest amount without doing anything, they still took missions. In fact, they took the hardest missions. "What's it this time, sir?" Irvine asked.  
  
"Well, Esthar is throwing a worldwide ball for all the posh members of society," Cid said, looking directly at Squall.  
  
"What?" he muttered. If it was one thing Squall hated, it was being stared at. "Just because my dad is president," he said before being cut short.  
  
"Oh, no. Not because of that. You're father has requested SeeD there because he has received assassination letters. I'm sending you three to investigate."  
  
"Won't it be obvious though?" Quistis asked. "I mean, we'll be spotted before we even go into the ball."  
  
Cid chuckled. "True. Then again, it won't be you going, Quistis."  
  
Irvine and Squall both cocked their heads to one side. "What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled.  
  
"Well, it will be you. But it won't be. You'll be in disguised as Priestess Masako." 


	2. Chapter Two

Oblivious  
  
A/N: Don't worry Punky Gal, I'll get to Chapter 30 by the end of the summer...I hope. LoL! Now that I'm letting out some other ideas that have been cramming the writing storage space, more ideas for the Silent Series have been coming out. Anyway, here's Chapter 2! Don't worry! This will not be as long as Silent Screams. LOL!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"You look beautiful, Quistis!" Selphie exclaimed. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the nonexistent priestess twirl in her outfit. "Those pinks and reds look great on you. Especially in that cherry blossom design! Oh Quistis! You're so lucky!"  
  
"Lucky? Hardly...I have to put up this one big façade all the while trying to catch some assassin. I can't believe that someone would try and kill Laguna." Quistis rolled her hair up into a small bun letting two strands down in the front. She turned and faced Selphie who handed her the adorning piece: a small headdress with cherry blossom flowers matching her dress blooming slightly from the top. Quistis took it from Selphie and placed it on top of her head, trying to adjust to the weight of it. "How can Priestesses do this?"  
  
"Lots and lots of practice! And you only have half a day!" Selphie giggled out. "Now, what exactly are you going to be doing?"  
  
Quistis shrugged and turned around seeing if Selphie approved. She giggled and nodded her head with glee. "Well, I'll be watching over everyone. Since I'm a Priestess, I'll be able to go into places that SeeDs aren't, such as the conference room. I'll also be able to listen into gossip. Plus, this gives good reason for why SeeD are there."  
  
"To protect the Priestess!"  
  
Quistis nodded. Ever since the end of the Sorceress Wars, more and more white mages, or Priestesses, were being found. They started refugees across the world and took care of the sick and mangled. "This is going to be difficult though. The latest letter Laguna had received stated that the assassin would be at the ball. I'm going to have to suspect everyone."  
  
There was a knock on the door and Selphie darted to let whomever in. Irvine popped his head into the door and smiled at Selphie. "Is Quistis ready?"  
  
Selphie grinned nodded her head, opening the door fully. Irvine walked into the room and stopped dead in his tracks. "Hey, Irvine," Quistis said while adjusting her headdress in the mirror. Irvine stood there, gawking all the while. She smoothed the dress over her legs and turned around. "What?" she asked as she saw his mouth hanging open.  
  
Selphie began to go into an uproar of laughter. "He's drooling!" Irvine shook his head and grinned over at Selphie.  
  
"Why wouldn't I? Look at her!" Quistis glared at the both of them and rolled her eyes. She walked over to the suitcases that rest on her bed and lifted them both up. Irvine rushed over to her side and quickly snatched them from her hands. He noted that her nails were longer than before and painted a light pink. "Allow me, Priestess."  
  
She glared again and walked out the door, her dress trailing behind her. She bumped into someone with a strong chest and she stood there for a second before looking into the gray blue eyes of Squall. "Sorry, mi...Quistis?"  
  
He was shocked. Quistis had caused the one person she least expected to be shocked. She smiled softly and blinked. "Yes?"  
  
"You look...different." He patted his hand on her shoulder and walked past her into her room. Her long eyelashes pointed down towards the ground. She shook her head and continued on walking. She saw Cid waiting for her at the end of the hallway and she quickly walked up to him.  
  
"Quistis! My, my, my! You look astounding!" She nodded her head and began to walk with him. "Now, you understand what you must do. You are to act like a Priestess and spy on everyone. Contact me every night with information and delete suspects day by day. You only have one week until the big night, Quistis. I pray that you'll be able to do this."  
  
Quistis smiled. "Of course I will, Cid. This is easy compared to everything else. Squall and Irvine are just my assistants or will they be helping on the search?"  
  
"They will be helping, but mainly your assistants. You have your story down, correct?" Cid walked into the new air base that was installed for the Ragnarok. Quistis followed right by his side.  
  
"Of course. I am Priestess Masako of Balamb. I started my refuge just after the Sorceress War mainly for the children of Balamb. Once they reach thirteen years of age, I send them to Balamb Garden." Cid paused and looked at her.  
  
"This'll be easy, Quistis. I know you can do this. Just be careful of the other headmasters."  
  
Quistis looked at him oddly. "Why? They're all new so they won't recognize me."  
  
"Yes, but all the headmasters and many of the cities' delegates disagree with the Priestesses ways of refuge. They believe orphans should go to the Gardens instead of these refuge camps."  
  
Quistis nodded her head and smiled as her two assistants came with her four bags as well as their own. "Jeez, Quistis, did you bring the entire arsenal?" Irvine muttered out as he reached the cargo den of the Ragnarok.  
  
"I would've carried them, Irvine, if someone didn't snatch them out of my hand." Squall placed her two bags and then his single bag into the cargo den and walked right up into the breech.  
  
Irvine trotted next to her and smiled. "We're all ready. Lets go!"  
  
~*~  
  
Quistis sat there patiently. They expected to take half a day to reach Esthar, especially with Irvine's piloting. Squall was no where to be found. Quistis assumed it was to talk to Rinoa. She prayed the 'princess' wouldn't be there. Quistis sat in the co-pilot's seat watching the sunset come as they soared through the sky. "Beautiful, huh?" Irvine said, interrupting her thoughts.  
  
"Yea. I wish the sunsets at Balamb were this pretty. I mean...look at all those reds and pinks." Irvine nodded his head, his cinnamon bangs dropping in front of his face.  
  
"Too bad it's all pollution, huh?" Quistis nodded her head solemnly and continued to watch the clouds float by.  
  
She finally spoke her thoughts. "Do you think Rinoa's coming?"  
  
Irvine turned his head slightly to her, shrugging. "Doubt it. She is still a cadet in Galbadia."  
  
Quistis nodded her head. Unlike Irvine, Rinoa wasn't granted immediate SeeD status after the Sorceress War. Quistis sighed, playing with the fake cherry blossom flowers on her headdress. She was lucky that the real Balamb priestess gave her all her dress wear. She would've never thought a priestess had to wear so much clothing. Squall walked into the cockpit, taking a seat behind Irvine. "Everything going smoothly?"  
  
"Yup. We'll be there in a few hours. Quistis, you're really lucky."  
  
She turned and looked at Irvine. "Why is that?"  
  
Squall stood up and stretched and sat back down. "You get to go to a great ball and be accompanied by two very handsome and single men." She rolled her eyes and looked at Squall who just shrugged. Irvine laughed loudly at his own joke.  
  
"You two have to start calling me Priestess or Priestess Masako."  
  
Squall shrugged. "I don't like it..."  
  
"Get used to it. Its the Balamb Priestess' real name."  
  
Irvine turned and smiled at Quistis as the sun began to set on her face. The cherry blossom headdress and the cherry blossoms on her dress blended into the sky of reds and pinks. He sat there in pure awe. 


	3. Chapter Three

Oblivious  
  
A/N: Er...I don't know what happened on this chapter! Here's the real Chapter 3.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Priestess Masako! Such a pleasure to finally meet you!"  
  
Quistis, in her full Priestess attire, walked straight up to the President of Esthar, giving him a soft hug. "President Laguna, the pleasure is all mine." They both knew it was an act, and Laguna, the idiot he was, gave her a soft wink. Her eyes bolted open, almost revealing too much. "President, I'm positive you have met these two SeeD members."  
  
There was a script. He knew it almost all too well. "Of course, I do, Priestess Masako. Irvine, good to see you again." Irvine walked up, bags in hands.  
  
"Hey, Laguna!" he said while continuing to walk on. Squall followed closed in on the two authorities, ignoring his father fully. Laguna shrugged and held out his arm for Quistis to take. She took it gratefully, following his steps.  
  
"Allow me to show you to your quarters for the week, Priestess." He walked onto the chair lift, waiting for Irvine and Squall to take their seats. Squall sat next to Irvine, who sat next to Laguna, and Quistis was the last.  
  
"Have the other Priestesses arrived yet?" Laguna nodded, being lifted into the airshaft. "Any other letters?" she said, quickly shifting to business.  
  
"Nope. The Priestesses are weirded out that there'll be SeeDs here as well. Especially Victoria."  
  
"Who's she?" Irvine asked. Any sexy name intrigued the playboy.  
  
Laguna laughed. "Don't push it, kid. She's about my age."  
  
Irvine cocked a grin. "I like my women just like my wine; aged to perfection."  
  
"We'll see what you'll do, then, won't we?" Laguna joked to him. "But, High Priestess Victoria is none too thrilled that you requested SeeD here. I told her that you were acquiring threats from the delegates. And she accepted it."  
  
"Alright." Quistis sighed and scratched her legs. "This dress is itchy..."  
  
~*~  
  
The trio walked into the exquisite room. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, a grand sized bed rested up against the wall, two couches were right under the chandelier, a TV set, a bookcase, a bathroom, a dining area, and not to mention the fireplace. Irvine dropped all three bags and darted for the bed. Squall rolled his eyes, placing the bags in the corner. Quistis turned to him and grabbed his shoulder. "You ok? You didn't say one word to your father."  
  
"Yea, fine. Whatever..."  
  
Quistis glared at him and walked over to Irvine. "Sweet! We had to have gotten the best room in this place! This bed must be made of goose feathers!"  
  
Quistis glared at Irvine. "Too bad you won't be sleeping on it."  
  
"Huh?" Irvine sat up with the blankets wrapped around him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Why do you think there's two couches?" she said, yanking the blankets off of him.  
  
"You mean...no snuggle time, sweetie?" Quistis groaned and pushed him off the bed. Squall walked into the bathroom, checking under everything. "What are you doing, man?"  
  
"Checking for wires. Don't you remember what we have to do?" Irvine shrugged. "This isn't party time, Irvine. We have to protect Qu...Priestess Masako and..."  
  
Irvine groaned and pushed himself off the floor. "Ok, ok! I get it! Sheesh..."  
  
There was a knock on the door and Squall immediately answered it. A tall woman wearing a long, dark red dress and a large rose headdress walked in. From behind, black strands of hair flown out from the headdress. Quistis stood up, blinking softly at the woman. The woman's dark brown eyes blinked back. "Priestess Masako?"  
  
Squall and Irvine looked at each other, their weapons at hand. Quistis stood up from the bed and walked over to her. "Yes?"  
  
"It's so nice to meet you. I am Head Priestess Victoria." Victoria held out her head. Quistis took it and bowed gently and politely. "I have come to accompany you to dinner. Shall we be off?"  
  
Quistis blinked. 'Dinner already?' Quistis muffled a sigh and nodded her head, putting on her best smile. "Gentlemen, shall we be off?" Irvine and Squall nodded, quickly holding the doors open for the two. Victoria walked by first, holding her head up high in the air. Squall walked next to Quistis and whispered in her ear.  
  
"I don't like this woman."  
  
~*~  
  
Quistis sat there, her leg bouncing up and down softly. All who were there were Priestesses, and one Priest. Not to mention the numerous amounts of bodyguards, none of which were SeeD. Irvine and Squall sat patiently, staring at every single person. Any of them could be the assassin. Quistis tried to gain everyone's attention, which was easy. First she met Miyoko who was the Priestess from Trabia and she was beyond innocent. Then, she met the only Priest, Douglas, who seemed too weird to be an assassin. Following Douglas, she met Alexia, the Priestess from Timber.  
  
There were so many, half of which she couldn't remember their names. Irvine winked at one of the Priestesses, who began to blush a deep crimson. Quistis elbowed him in the ribs and he let out a small yelp. Ward and Kiros walked in, following President Laguna. Behind him, was a familiar face. "Evening, Priestesses. May I introduce our first delegates to arrive, President Caraway and his daughter, Rinoa."  
  
Squall choked on his soup as the bombshell walked in. She wore the familiar short cut dress that gained his attention in the first place. Quistis' eyes went wide. 'She's not supposed to be here!'  
  
One of the attendants walked in front of the two and showed them to their seats, which were right across from Squall, Quistis, and Irvine. Rinoa winked at Squall whose eyes were wide. He finally spoke. "What ARE you doing here?" he semi-whispered.  
  
She giggled. "When you told me you were assisting Priestess Masako," another wink, "I decided to accompany my father."  
  
A Priestess walked by, bumping her rather large heel into Rinoa's chair. Quistis finally spoke. "Rinoa, it's not safe for a Sorceress to be here."  
  
High Priestess Victoria walked right behind Rinoa. "Especially since all the Sorceresses mercilessly killed hundreds of thousands of people," she hissed into Rinoa's ear. "Priestess Masako, you are more than welcome to accompany the believers of life and Hyne down at the other end of the table."  
  
Caraway stood up, poking his chubby finger at the High Priestess. "Now you see here, lady! I do NOT appreciate you talking to my daughter like that! We did nothing to you!"  
  
"Hah!" She pressed her finger against his chest, forcing him to sit back down. The trio gawked at her. "Nothing? The apple never falls far from the tree!"  
  
She swished her dress around and marched towards the others. Quistis' eyes blinked open after the argument. "Damn," Irvine mumbled out. "You all really hate each other..."  
  
"Rinoa, we're moving our seats to the more sophisticated end of the table. Masako, I can see you're one of the kind Priestesses."  
  
He stood up and marched down to Laguna, throwing his hands mindlessly. Rinoa pouted and winked at Squall, rushing to her father's side. Quistis placed her hands on her head and moaned. She felt two hands rub her back. "Chill, girl, it's cool." Irvine placed his nose right next to her ear. "Just ignore everyone. You know why we're here."  
  
"Yea, I kn...get your tongue out of my ear..."  
  
Irvine chuckled and winked at Squall who gave him an odd look. "Squall, Rinoa is motioning for you to go over to her."  
  
Squall turned his head and moaned softly. "You two gonna be ok?"  
  
Quistis looked up at him and frowned. "This isn't get-your-girlfriend-back mission, Squall."  
  
He nodded his head and shook his head no to her. "Go on man," Irvine said to him. Quistis sat up and sighed. "See? She agrees! Go!" 


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: I have to feed some of you other than the Silent Series readers.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Quistis...or Masako...sat there patiently as Irvine chattered on about how great the food was. Many of the Priestesses sat there aghast by how Irvine chewed with his mouth open, making sloshing cow noises. Quistis cringed as she heard him mutter a thing or two about guns and how he was to assassinate the Sorceress Edea. Many of the Priestesses blinked slowly, obviously annoyed by the chatter.  
  
Quistis gently stomped on his foot, causing him to yelp some. "Ow!"  
  
Priestess Miyoko looked up, shocked by the sound. "Are you ok?" she asked in her pure voice.  
  
He smiled and winked. "Of course. Just amazed by your beauty, Priestess. I wasn't able to speak right, thus biting my tongue."  
  
She giggled softly. Priest Douglas looked up and blinked at Quistis. "So, Douglas, which city are you from?"  
  
He smiled, finally being able to shine. "Dollet. Its rough, but I love the city. You must love Balamb!"  
  
Quistis smiled politely. "It's nice. Very nice and clean as well."  
  
Victoria lifted a fork up with a bit of salad on, slowly putting it into her mouth. After she swallowed, she began to talk. "So, who has heard of the assassination attempts?"  
  
Quistis' ears perked up as Alexia grinned. "I heard that supposedly it's a priestess sending them. But I very much doubt that. I, personally, think that it might be Caraway. Galbadia has always had an issue with Esthar."  
  
Victoria grinned as well. "I think it might even be that sorceress brat. Tell me, Masako, why is your SeeD bodyguard talking to her?"  
  
All eyes turned to her and her cherry blossom clothing. "Oh, well...that is his ex-girlfriend I believe. I saw them walking down the streets of Balamb together before, and fighting."  
  
Irvine grinned. "Everyone knows that she still loves him. He's too moody for her though," Irvine muttered out.  
  
"Isn't he the son of the President?" Miyoko asked.  
  
Irvine nodded his head. He felt a sharp heal pound into his foot. "Ow!"  
  
"What's it this time, since you're not chewing like a cow?" Victoria snubbed.  
  
Irvine began to blush. "I get this...cramp. Especially when I talk to beautiful ladies." Miyoko and Alexia began to blush and giggle.  
  
oooooooooooo  
  
Quistis walked in, removing her headdress. Irvine followed her with Miyoko trailing behind. "Irvine, you're going to dance with me tonight, correct?"  
  
He turned around, flashing her his ever-charming grin. "Of course! That is, if it's ok with Priestess Masako. I think she might be turning in early."  
  
"Oh pish-posh! Masako, please let him come out and dance? I promise you I won't keep him out too long!"  
  
Quistis turned and looked at the petite blonde. "Sure."  
  
She grinned and grabbed Irvine's arm, yanking him from the room. He pulled his arm back, holding up his finger. He walked over to Quistis, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You gonna be ok? I mean...you looked upset all through dinner."  
  
"Yea, fine," she bitterly spoke. Irvine patted her shoulder and left the room. She heard the door click shut and she sighed, collapsing on the bed. Irvine was right, it felt as if the entire bed was made of feather down. She smiled softly, snuggling into the softness.  
  
"No! I will not dance with you, Rinoa!" a deep voice bellowed out. Quistis opened her eyes, bitterness filling them.  
  
"Pleeeease, Squall? It's been ages since we last dance!" a voice called out.  
  
"No! Now Rinoa, go back to the dance, ok? I'm going to bed!"  
  
He opened the door and slammed it shut, holding his ears with his hands. He heard the faint clicking of heels and sighed, leaning against the door. He looked up at the bed, seeing Quistis' dress. He walked over to the bed, whispering, "Did we wake you?"  
  
"No. I wasn't sleeping," she bitterly spoke. Squall threw his hands up.  
  
"Why is everyone so bitter today? First Rinoa, now you! What the hell!" he bellowed out. Quistis turned in the bed and sat up, holding her head.  
  
"Please, Squall. Stop yelling!" She sighed and picked up the phone, quickly dialing Cid's private line. Cid picked up. "Hi Cid."  
  
"Any clues?"  
  
"None. High Priestess Victoria is a tad bitter towards the delegates, and Rinoa. But that's expected, correct? I don't think it's a priestess, Cid. Someone mentioned today that it might be Caraway for the soul fact that Galbadia hates Esthar."  
  
"That could be. When you find out more information, please, call me."  
  
Quistis hung up the phone, rubbing her temples slowly. Squall sat on the edge of the bed. "Am I that easily hated?"  
  
"What?" Quistis asked, stopping the rubbing. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Caraway hates me, pretty much all the Priestesses hate me, all the delegates hate me. Am I that easily hated?"  
  
Quistis answered quickly. "Yes." He turned and gave her an odd look. "I'm not going to lie to you, Squall. You are hard to get along with. You have such a cold exterior and a gloomy outlook that people's first reaction is to hate you."  
  
Squall nodded his head. "That makes sense. I don't like being hated, though."  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" Quistis asked abruptly.  
  
Squall shrugged. "I know you'll tell me the truth. That and I think I totally ruined any chances of being with Rinoa."  
  
Quistis sighed, laying her head down on Squall's back. "Does it really matter if you get her back?"  
  
Squall shrugged, feeling the weight of Quistis' head. "Just a little. I mean...Rinoa made me happy."  
  
"Did she make you happy, or forced you to be happy?" Quistis asked. She knew Squall all too well. When he opened up like this, he believed whatever was told to him.  
  
"I...guess she forced me to be happy. But me being happy made others seem to like me so much more!"  
  
Quistis rolled her eyes. "I didn't like you more when you faking happiness. I like it when you show your genuine happiness, which, yes is rare, but so much more pleasing."  
  
Squall raised his hand and patted her head. "Thanks, Quis, I know I can always trust my sis."  
  
Squall stood up and walked to the bathroom after grabbing his bag. "I'm gonna take a shower and go to bed, ok?"  
  
"Sure..."  
  
"You ok? You seem upset," he announced, finally.  
  
Quistis was ready to tell him she didn't like being his 'sis' and wanted to be his. "Nothing. Just tired is all."  
  
Squall shrugged and closed the bathroom door. Quistis fell against the pillows, covering her face with one, muttering the words, "Stupid! Stupid! Should have told him!"  
  
She heard the water running. Thoughts sprang to her mind. 'He's naked in there. My oh my...naked...Squall...'  
  
She entered a dream like state, feeling her hormones raging inside of her. She could just imagine him lifting her up, ripping off the cherry blossom dress, kissing her bodice covered breasts and cleavage, grabbing at her thighs. She could see him lifting her up from her bottom, swinging her around and around, grinding against her.  
  
Her thoughts were broken by a loud pounding noise against the door. "Arg!" she bellowed out.  
  
A/N: Sorry...I was listening to Tweet's "Oops (Oh My)." Sexual, yes...yes. I may throw in a lemon only because classy, yet senseless, lemons cause Kirie to be one happy camper. :) I won't do anything TOO raunchy, I swear! But just you wait for the priestess' dance coming up in the next few chapters! ;) 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Quistis trudged to the door, opening it up looking into the eyes of Miyoko. Her eyes were full of worry and fear. "Priestess Masako? Your SeeD, Irvine, is outside against the wall. It seems that he's a little too drunk..."

Quistis sighed and walked out into the hallway, staring down at the slumped over Irvine. She knelt down next to him, looking into his face. "Irvine...what have you gotten yourself into?" she asked, concern filling her voice.

Miyoko stepped back as she saw Quistis lift the cowboy up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and dragging him back into the room. Quistis turned around, giving her a small smile. She smiled back, nodding her head peacefully. "I hope he's ok. He said that he could handle the drinks..."

Quistis frowned. Irvine can handle any alcoholic beverage thrown at him. "I'm sure he'll be fine. Send my regards downstairs." Miyoko nodded her head and ran back down the hallway.

Quistis placed Irvine onto the couch and walked back over to the door to shut it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man dressed in all black dart off into the shadows. Her immediate instinct was to chase after him, but she stopped and simply closed the doors, locking them. She walked back over to the couch, kneeling next to Irvine. "Irv? You ok?"

He opened his sparkling violet eyes and smiled dumbly at Quistis. He placed a hand onto her shoulder and grinned. "I's be ok..."

Quistis sighed. "What did you drink?"

"I's just have three glasses of wine..."

She gave him an odd look. "Anything else?"

"Nopes...Miyoko said she would get the drinks fors me, and she dids..."

Quistis sighed and patted his shoulder. She looked over to the bathroom. Squall certainly was taking his time. "Alright. Go to bed, Irvine, we'll discuss this tomorrow morning."

She stood up, only to feel hard, callused hands against her arm. He tugged her back down and pulled her face close to his. "I ain't drunk..."

"I'm sure of it, Irvine..."

"I was drugged..." Quistis cocked an eyebrow at him. "The whole table was discussing something 'bout the assassin..."

Quistis sighed and patted his head. She heard the water turn off and was grateful. Irvine lifted his head and brushed his lips against Quistis'. She froze, her eyes slowly shifting towards Irvine. "Wha..."

In his drunken slurred voice, he asked, "Please, Quistis...go out with me..."

She stood up, shaking her head. Squall emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a robe. He looked at Irvine lying on the couch and frowned. "What happened?" Squall asked, rubbing his hair with another towel. Quistis' heart started to race as she began to think about what exactly was under that robe. "Well?" he asked.

"Oh! Priestess Miyoko brought him up here. He says that he was drugged and that the table was discussing something about the assassin sent here."

Squall nodded his head and sat down on the opposite couch. Irvine looked over at him, smiling dumbly. "I can't resist a pretty face!" he slurred out. Quistis rolled her eyes and walked over to her suitcase.

"Ok, Irvine...sober up."

Quistis laughed. "Squall, it's not like magic. You can't point at him and say 'Sober up!' and have it happen. Give him water, and force him to eat something with carbs in it, like bread or pretzels."

Squall stood up, walking over to her. "You ok? You seem shaken up or something."

Quistis blushed and shook her head. "Just want to take a shower..."

Squall shrugged and walked over to the mini-kitchen, searching for anything. Quistis walked into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaning against it, her heart pounding loudly. She turned on the water and slipped off her clothing.

She looked around the bathroom, eyeing the two robes hanging on the wall. Five towels rested on the towel rack and she touched one. It was Trabian fleece. She grinned and pulled down one of the robes, also Trabian fleece. She placed it back and pulled off her underwear. She stepped into the shower, closing the glass door and smiled at the warm water pounding against her skin. 'No wonder Squall took ages...'

She heard the door click open and Irvine's voice echoed out. "Uh...Quis? I just need to...use the toilet..."

She abruptly covered herself up. "Go ahead..."

Her warm shower was suddenly ruined by the sounds of bowel movements coming from Irvine. She groaned loudly and turned back to the shower, washing her hair quickly. She pulled out the soap and began to lather herself up.

After she was done, she turned off the water, still hearing Irvine's moans. She opened the door, staring over at the robes. Quietly, she stepped out of the shower and tiptoed towards the robes. She turned around and looked at Irvine leaning against the toilet, his moans becoming less audible. She turned back towards the robes, her eyes catching the door wide opened as she turned.

She screamed as she saw Squall there, looking dead at her naked body. Irvine spun around at the sound of the scream, taking in all of the naked Quistis. She reached for the robes, but slipped on the drenched floor. Irvine wiped hi mouth and crawled over to her just as Squall was walking in. Irvine yanked down one of the robes and wrapped Quistis' body in it. Squall walked in and grabbed a towel, tossing it down at Irvine. "She ok?" he asked. Irvine nodded his head and looked up at Squall, seeing his cheeks crimson red.

"What? Never seen a nude girl before?" Squall blushed even more now, if that was at all possible. "Not even Rinoa?"

Quistis moaned loudly, rubbing her forehead. Squall quickly walked out of the bathroom, wicked thoughts flaring into his mind. 'She was naked! Stark naked! Completely naked!' He paused and turned around as he saw Quistis pushing Irvine away as she placed on the robe. His mind screamed at him to turn away as he saw her right breast being covered up. He blushed again and rushed to the couch just as she turned to look at him. He turned on the television, turning the volume up some so he could drone out his brain.

Quistis glared down at the smirking Irvine. "You're a jerk," she whispered, so Squall didn't hear her.

Irvine stopped grinning, giving her an odd look. "What? I didn't do anything! I helped you..."

She threw her arms up, whispering still. "Helped me? Hah! Barely! You could have shut the door!"

"I was ready to puke! Jeez...why are you so pissy? Is it because Squall saw you naked?"

She quickly mumbled, "Maybe it was because you saw me naked..."

"Oh...so that's it?" he asked. She turned around, shocked that she was heard. Irvine stood up, peeking at the door and seeing Squall lounging on the couch, flicking through the channels. Irvine shut the door slightly, grasping Quistis' arms. "What is wrong with you?"

She blushed. "What?"

"Look, I know you like Squall. You always have. Yet you go and hide it, either that or you just don't want to admit it..."

Quistis blushed and looked over at Irvine. Her wet hair draped her face and she opened the door. "Get out..."

Irvine shook his head. "Quistis...why can't you just understand the fact that I really do like you? Squall doesn't even notice you...why bother?"

With those words, Quistis walked out of the bathroom and over to her suitcase. She bent down, looking through it and pulling out a pair of pajamas. Squall glanced over at her, blushing at the fact that he saw her naked. She stood up, carrying her pajamas into the bathroom. Irvine emerged and looked at her dead in the eyes. Quistis shifted her weight, waiting for Irvine to move.

Irvine shook his head and walked over to the other couch, lying down. The door shut and Irvine looked over at Squall. "What's up with her?" Squall asked, concern touching his voice.

Irvine picked up on the concern right away. "You know women...she just wants privacy is all..."

Squall nodded his head and turned back to the television. Irvine laughed at one joke in a show, and frowned as Squall changed it. "Gonna pick a channel?"

"No..."

Irvine grunted. Quistis opened the door and walked out, staring at the two men lying on the couches. She coughed to get their attention, and both of them turned around. Squall quickly grew red as he saw Quistis standing there in a pair of black silk shorts and a loose, but sexy, black silk camisole. "Mind turning the television down? I'd like to get some sleep..."

Squall nodded his head dumbly, causing Irvine to give him a bewildered look. 'Maybe he really does like her...'

Squall turned back to the television, turning the volume down. Quistis crawled into the bed, feeling bad that they had to sleep on the couches. "Hey guys?" she called out. Irvine and Squall both turned. "We can rotate the bed..."

Irvine laughed. "Not a chance, Priestess."

Squall blushed. His mind decided to speak out against him. "Maybe if you were still in it..."

It was barely audible, but both of them stared blankly at him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but stopped as Irvine saved the day. "Nice joke! Too bad Quistis didn't hear it..."

"What was it?" she called out.

Irvine sat up and looked at her. "Eh...it's for the people who sleep on the couches to hear."

Irvine was knocked in the head with a pillow. Surprisingly enough goose down really hurts when it's flying at you at such fast speeds. Squall sighed and snuggled into the couch, settling on a movie to watch. Quistis lay in bed, the blankets surrounding her. Irvine turned to look at Squall, who in turn looked back at him. "What?" he whispered, the sound of the television covering his voice.

"Do you like her?"

Squall blushed. "As a friend..."

"I mean as more. Do you?" Squall shrugged. Irvine frowned and gave him a concerned look. "Heh...guess I have competition for once..."

"What?" Squall gave him an odd look, but Irvine was fast asleep before anything else could be said. Squall sat up, throwing a blanket over him. Squall walked back to his couch, grabbing his blanket, but seeing he had no pillow. He looked up at Quistis' bed and walked over to it, staring down at her golden hair fanning the pillows. 'Is she sleeping?'

He reached behind her, grasping a pillow and slowly pulling it out from behind. Quistis' eyes flashed open as she saw Squall there. "Need something?" she murmured. Squall, out of shock, lost his balance and fell oof her, his face landing in her hair. She chuckled softly and when Squall sat up, stared up at him. "Well? Do you need something?"

He coughed softly, staring into her eyes. "Pillow."

She nodded her head and leaned forward some, allowing him to pull the pillow he had his hand on away. He pushed off of the bed and walked over to the couch, turning to see Quistis snuggle back into the sheets. He lay down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

oooooooooooo

Squall opened his eyes to reveal a SeeD uniform clad Irvine staring down at him. "Wake up, moron. Quistis is just about ready."

Squall shot up and grabbed his SeeD uniform, staring blankly around. "Where is she?" he asked, nervousness oozing through his nerves.

"Bathroom. She should be done soon."

Irvine walked over to the couch and folded his blanket, military style. He placed the pillow on top of the folded blanket and smoothed out his uniform. Quistis opened the bathroom door, her blonde hair resting on her shoulders. She wore a soft pink dress that came down to her knees and had spaghetti straps. On the dress, a white sarong was tied around her waist, causing the white cherry blossom petals on her dress to stand out a bit more. She walked over to the suitcase, eyeing Squall and Irvine, and placed on the cherry blossom headdress.

"I'll be out in a moment," Squall reported after taking in the beauty of Quistis' outfits.

He grabbed his SeeD uniform and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Irvine walked over to Quistis, staring down at his shoes. Quistis slipped into a pair of white open toed dress and pulled the latch around her ankle to insure that her heel would stay put. She did the same with the other foot. "Stunning, as usual Quistis." Irvine took her hand and bent down to kiss it. She now stood a good five foot eight inches.

"Shush you..."

Irvine grinned. As soon as he woke up, he decided to win Quistis over, and he had the perfect plan. "Look. If you want Squall to like you, you have to give him some competition."

"What?" Quistis asked, a bit stunned.

"Like another guy. Give him some sort of a challenge. Trust me on that." Quistis gave him an odd look. With her lightly colored pink lips, Irvine inched closer, touching them lightly with his own. "Pretend to like me, and watch the fireworks in Squall explode..."

Quistis shoved Irvine away, walking over to the door. "Look, enough with this, Irvine. If you really did like me as much as you act and say, then do something drastic instead of flirting with every random girl you see," she spat out at him. She opened the door and walked out, staring at the guards. "What's going on?"

"Ah, Priestess Masako!" the guard on her left said, and smiled softly. His voice went a bit deeper and serious. "A Galbadian official has been murdered."


	6. Chapter Six

A/N: I'm not sure exactly WHO I want Quistis to be with. Like, I want her to be with Irvine, cause he's much more fun than Squall, but at the same time I want her to be with Squall cause he's so...right for her in a way. Eh...Depending on how the story goes, I'll probably do alternate endings. I'm trying to even out the Quall-Quirvine in this story, but if it seems to go one way in one chapter, expect the next chapter to be the opposite, ok? I just wanted to let everyone know that before I get screams about "No! She has to be with Squall!" or "Aw...why not Irvine?", not saying that getting those reviews are bad in anyway, just explaining it before hand. Also, as you all may know, I really dislike Rinoa. But, and that is a big but, I will hold back my opinion on her depending on how you, the reviewers feel about her. There WILL be touches of Squinoa in this, but I assure you, it's not going to be a Squinoa. Whew...nice long rant!

Chapter Six

Quistis whispered to the guards, "Which one?"

Before the guards could speak, a sniffling girl came walking up to Quistis. She looked up, her big brown eyes pleading with Quistis. "Q...Priestess Masako? Is...Squall in?"

Quistis sighed. She looked at the guards and nodded her head. "I'll be out in a few seconds. Come on, Rinoa. Squall's just getting changed..."

Rinoa sniffled again and leaned against the support of the blonde. The cherry blossoms dangled in Rinoa's hair, giving her an innocent look. Squall walked out of the bathroom just as Irvine shut the main door. "What happened?" he asked, concerned at the fact that Rinoa was there, much more at the fact that Quistis was comforting her.

Suddenly, Rinoa bolted from Quistis' arms and ran straight into Squall, mumbling incoherently. Irvine gave her an eccentric look. "What? Stop mumbling girl!"

She sniffed twice and looked at the rest of the party. "My uncle, Senator Glenn Garai, was murdered..."

She went back to weeping in Squall's arm and he brushed down her hair. He looked up at Quistis who was now sitting on the couch Irvine was sleeping on. "Your uncle?" Rinoa nodded her head. "Well, then we know it's a Priestess."

Rinoa sniffled and looked at Quistis. "What?"

Squall looked a bit shocked. "And how? We barely searched for any clues..."

"Last night, the table Irvine was sitting at was discussing something about the assassin. The assassin wants to murder Laguna for what? None other than helping Galbadia in their time of need. Rinoa's uncle is murdered, so unless he was a miserable man who everyone hated, or he was against having Esthar help out Galbadia, it has to be a Priestess."

They all looked at Quistis. "Amazing. And you figured that all out in just a few minutes?" Irvine asked, laying a hand down on her shoulder. Squall felt a pang of jealousy storm through his heart, and Quistis notice his eyes getting a bit fiery.

'Maybe Irvine was right...' She laughed out loud at that fact. "Yes, I guess so. All what we have to do now is figure out which one."

Rinoa sniffled and rubbed her nose. "But what if the assassin murdered him to throw people off his, or her, trail?"

They all looked shocked at Rinoa. No one ever went against Quistis' notions. Squall coughed a bit. "Well, I doubt that it's a congressman, or anyone from Galbadia. They all want Esthar to help them rebuild their cities." Rinoa nodded. She hadn't thought about that fact.

Irvine searched his brain for a bit. "Rinoa, we also have to put you in as a suspect," he finally said. Quistis flinched as he said that. Sure, all three of them knew that, but did he have to say it?

"Me? Why me?" she asked as she stepped away from the trio. "Why the hell would I murder my uncle?"

Irvine held up his hands. "I know! But, it's apart of our job! We have to suspect everyone!"

Rinoa's eyes flared. "Irvine! Come on! You know me better than that! Just because I'm a sorceress doesn't mean that I want my uncle dead! Don't you think, if it was me, I would have murdered another senator? Why my own uncle?"

Irvine was backed into a corner. She had a very strong point. Quistis stood up, placing her hands on Rinoa's shoulders. "Calm down, ok? Yes, we do have to suspect everyone. But with every bit of evidence we come up with, we eliminate everyone, one by one."

Rinoa looked up at Quistis. Her brown eyes were tinged with red from her outburst. "Listen, I didn't do it. I have no reason to. You know, as well as you two know and I know, that I love Laguna too much to kill him. Same with all the senators! I've known them since I was a child! That, and I respect the priestesses for what they do."

Quistis nodded her head and walked away from Rinoa. "She's off the list. We'll call up Cid tonight and tell him about this."

The phone abruptly rang. Quistis groaned inwardly and walked over to it, picking it up. "Hello?"

"Priestess Masako, I assume?" the voice called out.

"This is her. Who is this?"

The voice coughed. "Unless you lay off of me and get off of my trail, I will be forced to murder someone else..."

Quistis was silent. The three of her partners stared blankly at her. "Excuse me?"

"I heard what you've been saying to your little SeeDs in there, Quistis. I've got your room wired. So lay off of me..."

Quistis hung up the phone, spinning around to face the three of them. She motioned for the door and the phone rang yet again. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Heh heh...best to let me finish, kid. It's also being monitored...Nice breasts you've got there, kid."

She hung up the phone again and stepped away from the phone. Squall walked over to her. "Who was..."

"Sh..."

She walked to the door and opened the door, staring at the two guards. She walked down the hallway, having the trio follow her. The guards shut the door and followed the party. Squall marched next to her, whispering in her ear, "Who was it?"

"The assassin. He has the placed bugged and monitored." Irvine coughed gently.

"Monitored? Meaning...he sees everything?"

The three of them gave him a weird look. Rinoa rolled her eyes and walked next to Squall. "Kind of reminds you of Big Brother, huh?"

Squall nodded his head and walked down the grand steps and into the dining hall. Quistis walked slower, causing the three to slow down. "The entire palace is monitored, I know that much, with the exception of rooms. The cameras are undetectable and can capture sound perfectly."

Rinoa looked over at Quistis. "How do you know?"

"I was trained in the computer field during my classes. I had to learn every single security system known on the planet. The assassin is male, unless they're using a voice disguise, which it didn't sound like. He also has to be from Esthar, due to the fact that the wires are undetectable in our room."

Squall frowned. "I could have looked harder."

The entered the dining hall, a young host escorting them to four tables. Quickly, a waiter brought a pitcher of orange juice and poured each of them a glass, then rushed to another table. Irvine shrugged at Squall. "It doesn't matter. All what we have to do is look at the people who treat us weird."

Quistis shook her head. "Not going to work. They already treat us weird due to the fact that you're SeeDs and we're with the sorceress." Rinoa frowned. "I'll just have to use my all access pass to the Priestesses."

Victoria walked in, abruptly frowning at the sight of Rinoa with her favorite Priestess. "Priestess Masako!" she called out.

She walked over to her and Quistis smiled. "Good morning, Head Priestess Victoria." Quistis stood up and bowed politely. "I assume that you heard about the murder."

"Yes, quite tragic that a man so gallant as Glenn had to die in vain. He was one of the few Senators I enjoyed being around."

Rinoa glared at her. "I'm sure my uncle would have loved to hear that."

Victoria smiled at the sorceress. "I'm sure he would. Well, I must be off. Priestess Miyoko has some news for me."

Quistis nodded her head and sat back down. The same waiter as before walked over to the table, laying four plates with eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns in front of each people. Quistis sighed and picked up the fork and slowly began to eat.

Rinoa and Squall talked lightly, and Irvine watched Quistis' saddened face. Surely enough, Irvine gently touched her knee, causing her to look at him. He coughed to gain the others attention. Suddenly, Quistis' eyes lit open. "Irvine...you're a genius."

Squall coughed out his food into a napkin and Rinoa gulped down her orange juice. "Irvine? A genius? Are you feeling ok?" Squall asked Quistis.

"Yes! He's a genius!" Irvine looked a bit shocked. Quistis stood up and bent down next to Irvine, planting a giant kiss on his cheek. His face grew red. "I am in love with you right now!"

Squall's felt that same pang of jealousy hit his heart. Quistis saw his eyes twinkle with anger yet again. "What?" Irvine asked. He was just as confused as the rest of them.

"The person on the phone, he was coughing!"

Quistis walked over to the other Priestess' table, sitting down and smiling the entire time. Squall looked at Rinoa, then Irvine, and then back to Quistis. At the other table sat Miyoko, Alexia, Douglas, and a few others that she didn't remember. Her eyes mysteriously danced towards Douglas, who seemed to be coughing as Quistis talked to him.

Quistis nodded her head and excused herself from the table, walking back to her original table. The three of them gave her an odd look. "Ok, it's not any of them."

"But...that Doug guy was coughing," Irvine announced.

Quistis smiled at Irvine and touched his nose with her finger. Squall turned his head and grabbed Quistis' other hand. "Is it him?"

She smiled and went back to eating her food. "I don't think so, but as Irvine said, he was coughing. Yet, his voice is too weak and shaky. Plus, he's considering going back home to Winhill because of the assassin."

Irvine shrugged. "So, we look at people who are coughing."

Rinoa chuckled. "This is Esthar. The climate is completely different. A lot of people are probably coughing."

Quistis shook her head. "This was a smoker's cough. It sounded too wet."

Victoria emerged from where she was sitting, holding a long black tube with a cigarette on the end. Quistis lifted up her eyebrows, staring at the rose queen. Rinoa frowned. "She's the only one I saw smoking this entire time..."

Quistis grinned. "We may have a winner..."


	7. Chapter Seven

A/N: Uh-oh...I'm starting to get a little bit of a brain fart for Silent Cries and this. But, I shall not do what I did a year ago and totally abandon it. To all my faithful reviewers, there will be probably four or maybe five one shot stories. Those stories shall include: Quirvine, Quall, Quell, Seiftis, and Selvine. I never did a Selvine before, so I dunno how that one is gonna turn out. I might make it angst ridden 'cause I didn't really like that couple all too much. I dunno, I think that Selphie should be with someone who will 'worship' her, such as Zell. But that's me personally. I know a lot of people like Selvines, so I intend to write one to the best of my abilities. Eh to hell with it, I'll make a Zelphie as well! But remember, they will be ONE-SHOTS so make sure that you review them...please?

On with the story! I'm considering ending the whole ball thing short, that way I can get on with the romance...

Chapter Seven

Victoria walked over to the Priestess table, putting out her cigarette in a glass of water that was placed at the front of the table. Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to cough. Quistis shrugged and turned back to the table. "She's our best chance, but it didn't sound like a voice disguise machine."

Squall shrugged and grinned at Irvine. "Maybe she's a he."

Irvine sputtered out his orange juice, glaring at Squall. "Oh ha ha, mister funny man."

Quistis shook her head and stood up. "Excuse me, but I'm going to talk to Laguna really quick."

Irvine and Squall both nodded their heads and went to arguing with Rinoa sitting there looking sullen. Quistis walked away and towards the main table, walking over to Laguna. "Priestess Masako!" he announced.

She bowed her head and smiled. "May I talk to you in private?"

He stood up, holding his hands up to Kiros and Ward, walking alongside of Quistis and out of the dining area. "What's up?" he asked.

"I got a call this morning. From the assassin." Laguna looked frightened. "He told me to back off of him and that he has my place wired."

"Then we'll get you a new room!"

Quistis shook her head, the cherry blossoms shaking along. "No. He has the place monitored and would notice the change. I believe that it has to be someone from Esthar, considering we all checked the place to see if it was bugged. Estharian technology is the only undetectable kind."

"So are you saying its someone from the inside? I really doubt that..."

Quistis sighed. "I believe that the assassin is a smoker, and definitely male. It's highly possible that he's from either Esthar or from a Garden."

"If he is from Esthar," Laguna asked, "then why would he be trying to assassinate me?"

Quistis paused for a moment and continued to talk. "It could be that the fact you're helping Galbadia. Maybe someone doesn't want that."

"We did a poll, though, and got one hundred percent positive results to go ahead and help Galbadia, causing them to be put into debt to us so we can take advantage of that fact later."

Quistis looked at Laguna. Despite the fact of his old age and...less than average brain mass, he was quite smart. "True."

He laughed. "Then again, we had to do a recount."

She scratched that last thought out of her mind. "Well, it would be essential if I was able to look at all monitors."

Laguna nodded his head and turned a corner. "The monitors are straight down there. Just tell the guards the password."

She blinked as he spun around. "And that is?"

"Soup and water."

Quistis shrugged and walked down the corridor and straight towards three guards. "Password, ma'am," the first one spoke out.

She blinked and shrugged once more. "Soup and water."

The first one nodded and moved out of the way, the other two opening the doors. She walked in and stared blankly at the twenty monitors on the wall. She walked over to the control panel, touching a button to cause the screen divided into twenty screens to go into one. It was the dining hall. She took the joystick and spun it around a bit, seeing Irvine sitting at the table alone. A woman was sitting next to him. She was a delegate due to the fact she had no headdress on. She wore a long blue dress with a large slit on her side, showing her cross leg. Irvine was doing nothing but simply eating his breakfast.

Quistis felt a soft flutter in her heart as she saw him shake his head and the woman stand up, marching away. She shrugged and clicked on the number 'five' button, showing a new area. She looked around and sighed. It was the courtyard that has yet to be used. It looked as if they were setting up for the final night, which was in a day. She spun the camera around some, seeing an oddly familiar blonde haired man.

"Seifer?" she whispered out.

She zoomed in on the man that looked familiar, seeing him take a drag on a cigarette and toss it to the ground. He lifted his arm and coughed into the crevasse of his elbow, then pulled his arm away and went back to working on the stage. Quistis blinked and zoomed in closer. He spun around, looking directly where the camera was. Sure enough, there was the identical scar to Squall's.

Quistis raced out of the room, her heels clicking on the lush carpet. She ran into the dining area and looked at her table, seeing Irvine sitting there. She rushed over to him, sliding into her chair. "Whoa!" he called out, looking a bit shocked at her heavy breathing. "What's up?"

"Where's Squall?" she barked out.

"He went up to the room with Rinoa. She said she left something..."

Before he could finish, Quistis grabbed his arm and yanked him away from his food. She raced up the steps, Irvine having to skip a step just to keep up with her. She raced down the hallway and opened the door, seeing Rinoa close in on Squall. Irvine walked in, shutting the doors behind him. Rinoa and Squall turned and looked at Quistis, Squall absentmindedly turning red. "I know who it is..."

Rinoa blinked. "Who?"

Quistis breathed in some, walking over to the mini-fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and gulping a few sips down. "Ok, there's the whole fact that this person is against the joining of Galbadia and Esthar. Both sides want to do this. The Priestesses are here to get in on a piece of the action considering how much work they do around the globe."

"Well?" Squall asked.

"I was looking in the camera room and I saw Seifer here. Why the hell would Seifer be here?" she asked. Squall, Irvine, and Rinoa stood there opened mouthed. "He's trained to understand all technology. I saw him smoking and coughing. He can get access to any room."

"Why?" Rinoa asked.

"Because, he's one of the workers here that sets up everything! All what we have to do now is catch him in the action..."

Rinoa frowned. "He killed my uncle though!"

Squall frowned and patted Rinoa on the back. "We have no clue how he died. Irvine and I will look into that. Rinoa, it's best if you join your father. Quistis, do you wanna stay here?"

She let out a hard and bitter laugh. "Alone?"

Squall frowned. "Seifer won't come in here."

Quistis laughed bitterly. "Now he will. It slipped my mind while I was talking to you guys that he has this place wired!"

Irvine frowned and stepped up. "Squall, you go on ahead. I'll stay here with Quistis."

Squall frowned as well, the same old jealousy flaring in his heart. "You sure?" he asked abruptly.

Irvine nodded his head. "Yea. You know more about forensics anyway."

Squall shrugged and walked over to his suitcase. Rinoa walked up to Quistis, smiling brightly. "Thanks, Quistis." She wrapped her arms around her and hugged Quistis tightly. She waved to Irvine and walked out of the room and walking down the hall. Squall grabbed a small white suitcase and nodded his head to his comrades and left as well.

Quistis turned around, her cherry blossoms dipping in her face.

"So...why'd you do this?" she immediately asked.

He shrugged and walked over to the couch. "Laziness, really. I don't feel like poking a dead guy, either."

Quistis placed all her weight on her left foot while she extended, and started to tap, her right foot, crossing her arms. "Really?"

"Yup. Hey...shut up...the rerun of Degrassi is on..."


	8. Chapter Eight

A/N: Ok. Read my bio for info.

CONTEST IS BEGINNING TUESDAY APRIL 5TH, 2005. CONTEST WILL END THURSDAY MAY 5TH, 2005. ALL VOTES THAT ARE CAST AFTER MIDNIGHT OF MAY 1ST WILL BE UNACCOUNTED FOR.

(Please read bio for rules on the contest and what exactly the contest is about)

Chapter Eight

Quistis sat on the couch opposite Irvine, placing a small piece of chocolate into her mouth. They were watching a horror movie and every single time that masked man showed up on screen, she jumped a few inches off of the couch. "Must you make noise every single time he comes on?"

She turned and looked at him dead in the face. "I get frightened easily."

Irvine began to laugh as a commercial came on. "You? Frightened? Please. You are the strongest woman I know."

She blushed and hung her head. "Barely. I get terrified by the simplest things."

She watched one commercial when she suddenly felt a strong arm wrap around from behind her. She turned around and saw Irvine sitting there, holding her against his chest. "Well. If that's the case, then you can depend on me."

She blinked and stared at those blue-violet eyes. "Why are you holding me?"

"Keep you safe from the bad man."

She laughed and pushed herself off and away from Irvine. "Listen. The only thing you need to do is to just sit there and give me back up when I need it. I appreciate it very much, but its ok."

Irvine sighed and looked at her. "Why won't you just give in Quistis? It's not like I'm a bad person. It's not like you're too good for me. It's nothing like that."

"We're on a mission, Irvine." She stood up and walked over to her bed. He groaned loudly and fell, sprawled out on the couch. He started to say her name, but before he could get a syllable out, she whispered loudly enough so that he could hear, "Ask me when we get through this." She sat on the bed and looked around the room.

Squall walked into the lab that was underneath the presidential palace. Two scientists led him over to where the body was at. "When you're done, just let us know."

Squall nodded his head and placed the white briefcase onto the ground. He pulled off the white sheet and stared blankly at Senator Garai. His face was entirely pale. Squall slowly gulped down a breath of air and placed on a pair of gloves. He opened the mouth of the senator and sniffed slightly. The only scent that was on his breath was alcohol. Squall sniffed once more. Brandy? Squall knew that the Senator liked to drink wine. But brandy? He sniffed once more. The smell was awfully familiar to him. He pulled a cotton swab out from his briefcase and slowly swished it around the inside of the Senator's mouth.

He grabbed a plastic baggie and placed the cotton swab inside of it. he sealed the baggie and placed that back into his briefcase. "Odd...no cuts or bruises." He pulled the sheet down some more and looked around curiously. Sure enough, the way the Senator died was a mystery. One doctor walked in and looked over at Squall.

"Can I help you?" the doctor called out. Squall spun around and flashed his ID badge."If you're curious as to how he died, we believe that he was drugged."

Squall blinked. "Why wasn't anyone told of this?"

The doctor smiled brightly walking over to Squall. "Miss Rinoa has requested it."

"Rinoa? Why?"

He shrugged and pulled the sheet back over the Senator. "I have no clue. I believe for the sake of the privacy of her family. Most people don't tell others how their loved ones die. Stirs the press a bit too much for their tastes."

Squall nodded and he grabbed his briefcase, closing it and locking it, and walked out of the lab. "Thank you doctor."

Quistis walked outside into the courtyard. Irvine walked behind her, his brown trench coat trailing behind him. He whispered into Quistis's ear, "What are we doing out here?"

She turned and looked back at him. "Keeping an eye on Seifer."

She walked further into the courtyard, Irvine keeping his distance from her. Quistis walked over to a man bent down towards the ground. He turned around and his jade green eyes lit open. "Qu..."

She placed her finger up to his lips. Irvine walked closer and tipped his hate to the blonde haired man. "Priestess Masako requests a meeting with you."

"Priestess Masako?" he asked, his eyebrows arching with curiosity.

Quistis spun around, the cherry blossoms in her hair dancing in the sky. Seifer turned to his boss who simply nodded his head. Seifer shrugged and placed the wires down on the ground. He jogged to catch up to Irvine. "Hey. Long time no see," Irvine whispered.

Seifer frowned. "Why is she being called Priestess Masako?"

Irvine smiled and winked at him. "Doing a lil mission on the side for good old Cid. We just have to ask you a few questions is all."

Seifer shrugged and followed the 'priestess' into the conference room. She removed the headdress and placed it down onto the table. "Sit," she commanded.

Seifer rolled his eyes and sat down. "Why do you need me for questions, Quistis?"

She leaned against the table and frowned at him. "What are you doing here, Seifer?"

"Well, I was working, seeing as how the only person who will hire me is Laguna."

Quistis opened her mouth to rebuff and argue. She closed her mouth and blinked, cocking her head to the side. "Laguna gave you this job?"

He nodded his head. "It ain't much, but it keeps me well hidden. No one here even looks our way."

It was Irvine's turn to say something. "Our?"

Seifer sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fujin and Raijen are here with me too. Fujin is working as a secretary and Raijen is one of the cooks. Laguna decided to be nice to us and tkae us in. Why am I here now?"

Quistis sighed and held her head. "Senator Garai was assassinated."

He chuckled. He chuckled that same chuckle he always did when he was being accused of something he didn't do. "So, automatically, you suspect me?"

Quistis sighed and pushed herself off of the desk. "Not really automatically. Quistis here saw you in the courtyard and saw you smoking and coughing."

Seifer raised one eyebrow at her. "So, I'm a killer cause I smoke and cough and work here?"

She shook her head, embarassed. Slowly, she began to explain the situation to Seifer. He grinned as Irvine started to snore. Quistis quickly smacked him to wake up. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Irvine opened the door and smiled at Squall. Squall walked in, seeing the blonde haired man sitting there in front of Quistis. "Quistis?" he called out as he saw her head down. Seifer turned around and gave Squall that cocky grin.

Squall held back his anger as he saw Seifer stand up. "Quis, is it ok if I go now?"

"Sure, Seifer. Sorry..."

Seifer walked past Squall, their shoulders grazing each other. Irvine shut the door after he walked out. Squall looked at Quistis in a slightly disturbed way. "What was that about?"

"Laguna hired him and his lackies. Quistis feels pretty dumb automatically accusing him."

Quistis looked up at Squall, her face bright red. He walked over to her and placed the briefcase down. "Irvine. Go get Laguna."

Irvine shrugged and walked out of the conference room. Quistis placed a hand on her head and her eyes slowly danced up to Squall. He sat down in the same chair that Seifer had sat down in. She finally regained her composure and looked at Squall. "So?"

"So what?" She looked down at the briefcase. "Oh! Right...he smelled like brandy." She blinked and gave him a hard look. "He hates brandy. For as long as I've known him, he's never drank brandy. The doctors down there say that he died from poison and that Rinoa knew this and requested for it not to be told."

Quistis blinked again. "She said that she didn't know how he died."

Squall rubbed his temples and closed his eyes as the door opened. Laguna's voice rung out into room. "What's up?" he asked casually as Irvine shut the door.

Quistis stood up and walked over to Laguna. "Thanks for telling us you hired Seifer and his posse..."

Laguna blushed and rubbed his neck. "Yea. Sorry about that. Irvine filled me in on the details. I felt bad for the poor guy. Not being able to get a job and all..."

Squall blinked and looked at his so called father. "You hired him?"

Laguna shook his head. "Squall! Don't get angry or upset!" Squall's face turned into a hardened rock aged for a millenia. Laguna paused and looked at Quistis shaking her head no. "Nevermind..."

Squall turned and closed his eyes towards Quistis. When he reopened them, Quistis gave him a soft look, easing him out of the pain and headache called Laguna Loire, incompetent President of Esthar. Quistis sighed and stood up, walking to the door. "We have no suspects, the clues are all jambled up in one big mess, and there's one day left," she sighed out. She opened the door and walked out, looking back at the trio. "I'm going to the room."

Irvine looked on as Squall stood up and grabbed her headdress. He turned to face the other two. "We can do this, right Irvine?"

Irvine nodded and walked over to him. "We're just going to have to try a hell of a whole lot harder. Laguna...by any chance can you stall this ceremony tomorrow?"

Laguna shook his head, the black hair falling in front of his face. Squall shrugged. "We can do this. I know we can. Let's catch up with Quistis."


	9. Chapter Nine

A/N: Ah...how I missed writing...Square owns. BTW: If I happen to make spelling mistakes, it's because I do not have Microsoft Word so I don't have an automatic spellchecker. I'm really trying to make sure that everything is spelled correctly and that the grammar is corect as well, if I make a mistake then just let me know in a very polite manner. Score so far on CONTEST:LOVE - Squall/Quistis: 7 votes. Zell/Selphie: 3 votes. Irvine/Quistis: 1 vote. Seifer/Quistis: 11 votes. Zell/Quistis: 0 votes. Irvine/Selphie: 1 vote. Squall/Selphie: 0 votes. Seifer/Selphie: 0 votes. Laguna/Selphie: 1 vote. Laguna/Quistis: 3 votes.

I have had numerous emails requesting Squall/Seifer. I do not intend to do yaoi for this contest. Please note that the contest name is CONTEST:LOVE. There will be a CONTEST:YAOI and a CONTEST:HATE and numbers of others. Please, just be patient. I will fill the criteria of what everyone likes.

_This means thoughts..._

Chapter Nine

Quistis closed the doors to the room and walked over to the bed. She sat down and held her hands in her head. The pounding inside her head didn't help one bit. She laid back against hte pillows, watching the doors open and Squall walk in. He closed the doors behind him. "Irvine got dragged to have a few drinks with the Priestesses." Quistis nodded her head as Squall walked over to the bed. He sat down on the edge, his face twisted in a strange knot.

"Care to tell me what you're thinking?" Quistis asked. She was hoping to be able to let a few thoughts roam through her mind. She sighed as Squall just sat there, unmoving like a bump on a log. "Well if that's the case..."

"Why would Rinoa lie to us?"

"Huh?" Quistis asked. She was used to Squall being cold and cryptic. She was used to him telling her off whenever she tried to budge him to let out his thoughts.

"She said she didn't know how her uncle died. The doctor said that she was the first to know. You don't think Rinoa has anything to do with this, do you?"

Quistis blinked. She sat up straight in the bed and put herself into the position to sit on the edge next to Squall. "She might."

ooooooooooooo

Irvine smiled politely as Miyoko handed him another drink. "Drink up! How often are you going to be able to get free booze like this?"

Irvine politely shook his head. "I can't. I promised Priestess Masako."

Miyoko frowned, as did a number of the other Priestesses. "Can't even have one?" Miyoko pressed the drink to his face, hoping that he'd take at least a sip.

Irvine sniffed the drink nonchalantly and proceeded in pushing away her arm. "I'm sorry. My answer is no." He looked at the wine glass. It didn't smell like wine, that's for sure. Irvine suddenly remembered what Squall had said. Garai had smelled of rum. Irvine frowned. Who would drink rum from a wine glass? _Someone who's trying to poison you, that's who!_

Irvine stood up and began to walk away until Miyoko grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?" she called out. Her big eyes pleaded with him to stay. If it was any other time, Irvine would have stayed and done many a things to her. Yet, he was waiting for Quistis.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom."

ooooooooooooooooo

With that, he stood up and walked off to the bathroom.

Quistis rubbed the back of her head and paced back and forth in the room. Squall was still seated on the bed and he watched Quistis like a hawk. Quistis was too worked up in her thoughts to even feel his eyes bore on her. _Rinoa...Douglas...Victoria...Seifer...there's the four main. I have one day to figure this junk out...Laguna's life is in danger!_

"Did you hear me?" Squall called out. He had been talking for sometime as Quistis paced. She stopped and looked at him.

"What? I'm sorry. Lost in my thoughts..."

Squall sighed. "I said, why don't you sit down before you cause the rug to have a permanent indentation."

Quistis smiled softly and sat down on the bed. She looked over at Squall, just now realizing he was looking at her. "What?" she immediately asked.

"Nothing. You just look..." He paused, still staring at her. Quistis looked into his gray eyes and blinked. What exactly did she look like? He shook his head and broke away from the intense gaze that was going. "Nothing."

"No, say it. You started the sentence, you finish it," Quistis demanded in a silent voice. She was still struck with the intensity that he was looking at her.

He slowly eyed her, a fire burning in his eyes. "Beautiful." Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry!" he said as he stood up, immediately embarassed.

"No, it's ok," Quistis said, still sitting on the bed. A soft rose hue grew to her cheeks.

"...whatever." He paused and stopped walking, turning back to Quistis. "Wait...you're not yelling at me?"

Quistis turned her head, her blonde hair weaving in front of her face. "Why would I?" she asked shyly. She was never like this around guys. _Why, oh why does it have to be Squall that I get nervous and embarassed around?_ she thought immediately as she felt her hair come down.

Squall walked over to her and pushed the blonde locks out of her face. His hand immediately grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. Everything was in slow motion. His gray eyes flickered with a soft blue. She blinked and breathed softly as he leaned in, still holding her chin. He paused, centimeters away from her lips. He breathed out, "Do...you mind...if I kiss you?"

She simply shook her head, closing her sapphire eyes as she felt his soft lips press against her own. His hand moved from her chin to her neck, rubbing it softly and gently. Some of her blonde hair was still entwined with his fingers. His eyes shut as he went into a deeper kiss. He lifted her head up some, forcing her to move slowly up to a standing position. She wrapped her arms around his broad neck, holding onto the kiss that he was giving her. His other hand immediately flew to her waist, holding her close to him.

There was nothing sexual about this kiss, Squall noticed immediately. Quistis held onto his neck still, a salty tear drop slipping out of the inside of her eye. She felt the hot tear slide down and she immediately moved away, turning her head away from Squall, quickly wiping the tear away. "I...," she had begun.

"I'm sorry. I...shouldn't have done that," he whispered out, moving his once silky hair entwined hair to his neck. He slowly felt a soft cramp in his left leg. _What the...? Oh...oh no,_ he thought. His face dropped.

Quistis turned to look at him and noticed his cramped leg. The lips that had touched the lips of the man she always wanted started to curl up into a smile. "Don't tell me..."

"Don't you start!" he immediately fired back at her. She pulled her lips into her mouth, preventing her from laughing. "Don't you dare laugh, Quistis..."

She couldn't hold it in. The laugh blew out of her mouth. Squall had never seen her laugh so hard ever. She was polite, poised, proper. She hid her mouth as she silently chuckled. He rolled his eyes as he slowly started to tap his thigh. "Haha...you're just like your father!" she called out as the laughter came out.

"Ok, ha-ha...laugh it up."

And she did. She held onto her stomach as she fell to the ground on her knees. Tears slowly poured out of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away with her free hand. She paused and breathed in, looking up at him punching his leg. The laughter came out harder now, her face red as a cherry. "I can't believe...your leg is cramped!"

He rolled his eyes and limped around in a circle. He looked down at Quistis, who was now lying on the ground on her back. "It's not that funny!" She kept laughing. "Stop!" he said in a slight defensive, slightly more amused, voice. "Enough!" He began to laugh himself. He dropped to the ground, his cramped leg stretch out. Quistis slowly crawled over to him, pulling him into a laughing hug. Squall started to laugh harder now, realizing the comedy in it all. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her close to his chest as she laughed.

After about ten minutes, the twosome stopped laughing. Squall still held onto Quistis and Quistis was still hugging Squall. Squall turned and looked down at her. She, in turn looked back at him. "So..."

Squall gave her a half smile. "I...um. About that..."

She smiled and shook her head. "It's ok. It's a common nervous tick in a lot of people..."

Squall let out a soft laugh. "No...about the...kiss."

"Oh." Her face started to turn that rose red again.

"Are you blushing?" Quistis pulled away from Squall. She stood up and walked over to the bed. "Your blushing!" He stood up, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Don't worry, Quisty!" he rubbed in her face. He had a huge smile plastered on his face. He quickly turned her around, forcing her to look at him. "It's just a nervous tick..."

She immediately smacked him in the chest. He pulled her closer into a hug and continued to hold her as she started to chuckle. "Stop!" she chuckled out in an embarassed tone.

The moment she let her guard down by saying that, he kissed her again. It wasn't a long kiss, just a soft peck. Her eyes looked up into his. She noted that they were now a soft blue with a speck of grey. She smiled and pulled away. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him, deepening the previous kiss.

There was a loud knock on the door. Quistis pushed Squall off of her and charged for the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Squall rolled his eyes and edged his way to his gunblade. "Who is it?" he called out.

"It's Irvine! I can't find my keycard!"


	10. Chapter Ten

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews you guys! Keep them coming! So far, it's a tight race between Squall/Quistis and Seifer/Quistis. Don't forget, you can e-mail me, too!

Oh, and please note...in the previous chapter...I kinda messed up on where the 'ooooooooooooo' was supposed to be. I hope you got it anyway.

Chapter Ten

Quistis sighed a bit dramatically in the bathroom. She leaned against the door, listening in on what exactly Squall was telling their team mate. Her face was now the color of her attire.

She heard Squalls voice first. "What are you doing back?"

She could hear footsteps, then a loud 'plop' as Irvine jumped on the couch. "Miyoko tried to offer me some rum. Little odd, huh?" Quistis assumed that Squall merely shrugged. "Anyway," Irvine paused, "where's Quistis at?"

"She's in the bathroom."

She breathed in. She silently opened the door and walked out. She had fully regained composure and Irvine immediately stood up, whisking her in his arms. "What are you doing?" she called out, backing away from Irvine. Squall closed his eyes for a few seconds, his hands balling up into fists. After that few seconds, he had relaxed.

"Well, tomorrow is the ball, right? Something is obviously going to happen then. So, one of us needs to be with Laguna, while the other two act natural." Quistis stared at him blankly. Irvine sighed and flicked his cinnamon colored hair away from his face. "Will you go to the ball with me?"

Quistis blinked, before she could open her mouth to speak, Squall spoke out. "Well, if that's the case, then I think its best that I go with Quistis."

Irvine blinked. "Why?"

Squall merely shrugged. "You both know how I feel about my fa...Laguna. Plus, he is my...father," he said bitterly. "Won't that look a bit eccentric?"

"I don't think so. I think it would look perfectly natural. Plus, Rinoa's a suspect, right? This way, you can keep an eye on her!" Irvine announced, proud of himself.

"I don't want to keep an eye on her!" Squall bellowed back. "Why don't you keep an eye on her?"

Irvine laughed. Quistis slowly backed away from the two. "Guys, chill out."

"Oh please! Do you even remember what happened the last time i was with Rinoa?" Squall gave him a weird look. "That's right. You were tied up. She pushed me down the stairs, clawed my hair out, and scarred my back! Think I'm gonna go through that again?"

Squall rolled his eyes. "She's not that bad."

Irvine glared at him. "I still think it should be you."

"And I think it should be you."

"You."

"No, you."

"Nope, not me! You!"

"You!"

Quistis rolled her eyes at the petty little fight. The 'you' conversation went on for a bit. Quistis was now sitting on the bed, her head in her palm and she watched with boring intentions. They started the arguement at six fifteen p.m., and it was now eight forty-five.

Irvine threw his hands up in the air, "Squall! Just give up! It's going to be you either way!"

Squall shook his head, his arms firmly cross. "You. Why should you be able to go with Quistis? All what you'll do is abandon her there and go for the first girl that will give in."

Irvine glared at him. "Guys," Quistis moaned out, her head throbbing.

"At least I won't tell her to go talk to a wall!"

Squall and Quistis both had wide opened eyes. Quistis, in shock that he said that, and Squall, in shock that he even brought it up. "At least I won't fuck her and leave her like you've been planning to since you first met her."

Quistis gasped and Irvine's jaw dropped. "I would never do that to Quistis!"

"Bull shit. You were planning it all along!"

"Why are you getting so defensive? You actually think I'd hurt Quistis?"

"You guys, stop it!" Quistis said while standing up.

Squall poked his finger into Irvine's chest. "You did it to Selphie, why not Quistis? What makes her different?"

Irvine slapped Squall's hand away. "Don't touch me. Yea, I'll admit it, I like Quistis. And I never screwed Selphie. SHE left ME! Have we forgotten that? Why are you so obsessed? You like Quistis, too?"

Squall was silent for some time. Quistis stared at Squall, waiting for his answer. "So what if I do?"

Irvine quickly shoved Squall. "Not like she would like you anyway! Right Quistis?"

Both guys turned and faced her. "Oh no!" she announced, shaking her head. "I am NOT getting involved in this fight!"

There was a sudden knock at the door. Quistis walked past the two guys, both of them giving each other death glares. She swung open the door, staring at a shocked Rinoa. "Rinoa?" Quistis muttered.

Rinoa looked straight past Quistis, her brown eyes twinkling with tears. She was staring dead at Squall. Squall sighed and rolled his eyes, placing a hand on his head. "Rin..."

She sniffled. "You...like her?"

Quistis sighed and held her head in both of her hands. Irvine smiled and walked over to Rinoa. This wasn't a 'I'm gonna hit on you' smile, but rather, a bitter revenge smile. "Yea, apparently he does, Rinoa."

Rinoa turned to Quistis and gave her a pleading glare. "You don't like him, do you?"

Quistis sighed and pulled Rinoa in. She slammed the doors shut and grabbed the top of her hair. "Listen, all of you...we're here on a mission, not some stupid talk show!"

Squall gulped down a breath. Quistis was avoiding the answer. "Yea, Quistis, why don't you answer Rinoa?" Irvine said. She immediately glared at Irvine. When he was angry, he did enjoy getting other people off his case and onto others.

Rinoa started to glare at Quistis. "Do you like him?"

Squall walked over to the trio and pulled Rinoa away. "Rinoa, stop it."

"Why should I? I thought that we were going to get back together and be happy again!"

Squall sighed and grabbed his hair now. "Oh for Hyne's sake, Rinoa! I was never happy with you!"

Irvine and Quistis both had wide opened eyes. Rinoa blinked. "Excuse me?" she whispered out.

Irvine grabbed Quistis' hand and dragged her out the cross fire. Immediately, a hand flew straight onto Squall's cheek. She had slapped him, and apparently, very hard. His head moved to the side and he immediately raised his hand to touch the red spot. "I said, I was never happy with you. You forced me to be happy...you never even cared whether or not I liked doing things."

Rinoa looked over at Quistis and pointed a wicked finger at her. "This is all your fault!"

"Mine?" Quistis spoke up. "How in hell is this my fault?"

"You forced him into liking you! You couldn't handle being left alone!"

Quistis blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I saw you kiss him earlier today!" Her mouth suddenly dropped open and her hands flew to her mouth. Irvine looked dead at Quistis and Squall looked dead at Rinoa.

Quistis blinked and raised her hand. "How do you know that? The windows have been drawn the entire time we've been here."

Rinoa gasped for air. Irvine blinked. "Are you saying...that you kissed Squall, Quistis?"

Irvine spun towards Quistis. Quistis sighed and nodded her head. Squall sighed as well, "She didn't kiss me. I kissed her."

Rinoa laughed. "Oh, it was more than that! Just admit it Squall!"

Quistis had enough. "Stop!" she yelled. "Rinoa, how the fucking hell did you know that Squall and I kissed?" Oh yes, Quistis was pissed. They had danced around the subject enough. "The only way you would have known is if you had a hidden camera in this room, and if that's the case, then I'm sorry, but we're going to have to arrest you for murdering Senator Garrai and for attempted murder on President Loire!"

Rinoa shook her head. "No! Yes, I admit it, I threatened Laguna's life...but only so Squall would see me! He's been ignoring me non stop since we had sex!"

Squall's face turned bright red. Quistis' mouth had dropped open and Irvine's face was...well, indescribable to say the least. "Rin..."

"I never meant to do any harm to Laguna, believe me. I...just wanted Squall to see me again. I dunno, I'm pretty stupid..."

"That doesn't explain Garrai!" Quistis shouted.

Rinoa sighed. "Yes, I knew about his death...but my father made me swear not to let anyone know! You've got to believe me! I didn't kill my own Uncle!"

"And the phone call?"

Rinoa rolled her red eyes. "I am a sorceress..."

There was a sudden knock on the door. Quistis groaned. "I swear, if it's some girl coming to scream at me about taking her man I am going to flip!" Quistis stormed over to the door and swung it open, looking dead in the eyes of Victoria.

"Liar." Quistis was slapped.

Irvine and Squall opened their mouths. Rinoa had a slight smug smile on her face. Quistis growled gently. "Please explain to me why the fuck you just hit me and called me a liar?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"Rinoa has told us who you are, Quistis Trepe!" Quistis spun around and glared at Rinoa who simply shrugged.

Quistis sighed and leaned against the door. "Yes, I am Quistis Trepe, not Priestess Masako. I was hired by Laguna to see who the assassin was."

Victoria frowned slightly. "And you suspected us? The Priestesses?"

Squall now sighed. "What the hell is this shit?"

Irvine simply shrugged. Then he had realized that Squall DID in fact like Quistis. "You asshole..."

Everyone turned and looked at him. Suddenly, he pounced on Squall and punched him square in the jaw. Quistis threw her hands up as she watched the two boys roll on the floor. "Oh for heaven's sake!" she cried out. She immediately grabbed Rinoa, casting stop on the sorceress.

"Hey!" Rinoa cried out in shock. "Why did you do that?"

Victoria watched in...astonishment and horror as Quistis pulled a whip out from a cabinet and whipped the two boys. "Knock it off!"

Irvine looked up and with that moment of defense down, Squall punched him in the jaw, sending Irvine flying off of him. Squall pounced back on Irvine, slamming his fist into the face of Irvine. Quistis, at that point, started to scream bloody murder. The two boys stopped and stared at her.

"I SAID KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!"

A/N: Yea...sorry...bit of a brain fart there...


	11. Chapter Eleven

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! A lot of people want this to be a Quall. shrug That's what it is then! Anyways, the two songs in this chapter are by Rufus Wainright "Complainte de la Butte" and Des'ree "Kissing You"

Chapter Eleven

Quistis was unmasked. All the priestesses knew who she was, as did all the senators. She sighed softly as she watched the people dancing the night away. She was in a simple pink dress. It shaped her upper body perfectly, small straps holding the dress up. Past her waist, the dress flared out, giving her room to move her legs freely. She politely waved to one person and nodded her head to another. Everyone was shocked to learn that Rinoa was the 'assassin' that wanted to kill Laguna. A few of the priestesses were angered that Quistis had lied, but they understood.

Squall and Irvine both had matching bruises on their faces. Squall continuesly rubbed his and his father continued to smack his hand away and shake a finger at him. Irvine simply gloated to the priestesses of how he achieved that mark. And how did he achieve it? By lying through his teeth. Quistis sighed and waved to another person who was absolutely infatuated with her. How she loathed those types of people. Quistis sat down slowly rubbing her ankles. Despite the fact she loved wearing heels, and they made her slightly taller, a good five foot seven inches, they did kill her feet. She sighed and grabbed a glass of champagne from the table. She sipped at it slowly, watching the crowd move around in a dance. Laguna was enticed in by a rather attractive female, and Squall was left to gaze out towards the balcony. Quistis stood up, her feet throbbing, ordering her to stop.

But Quistis went on. She walked towards Squall, step by step. The music played softly and the tranquil sounds of the violins soothed her feet somewhat. Squall turned just as she went walking by him. Her golden hair fanned out against her back, her black dress dipping slightly onto the floor. Squall raised one eyebrow as she walked out onto the balcony he was just gazing at. He pushed himself to follow her.

"Hey," he mumbled, leaning against the railing with Quistis.

She smiled softly. "Hey," she responded.

The two were quiet for sometime, their eyes never meeting as they took stolen glances at each other. He cleared his throat as another song came on. This one was more familiar to Quistis. Her ears perked up as the music started to grow louder. The piano melody echoed in her mind. Suddenly, Squall grasped her hand, pulling her from the balcony and onto the dance floor. A soft accordian sound echoed behind the piano's melodic charm and the violin's harmony. She gently placed her hand onto his shoulder, his hand dropping down to her waist, their left hands closing in each other, their fingers intwined. They slowly began to sway with the melody, Squall turning her ever so slightly as the music continued.

Quistis blushed as he moved his fingers from hers and wrapped his hand around hers. It was so intense, his eyes that soft blue again, their bodies close to each. Squall rested his head against hers. Her head rested on his shoulder, breathing in his deep musk. There was a soft hint of cologne and Quistis immediately picked up the scent. She had fallen in love with that scent.

Squall suddenly pulled away, their left hands still holding each other. He pulled her back, and she took the hint to spin. Her black dress slowly fanned out, her blonde hair twirling with her. It was as if they were the only two on the dance floor at that time. He held onto her waist, slowly whispering the lyrics to the song into her ear. "Je sens votre dispositif d'accrochage qui cherche ma main. Je sens votre coffre et votre taille fine. J'oublie ma douleur que je me sens sur vos lèvres. Et sous votre caresse je sens une intoxication qui me détruit."

Quistis suddenly looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "How do you know that?" she whispered, which was hardly audible.

He gave her a half smile, pushing her away and pulling her back in. He grasped her waist and swayed to the music as the cresando was beginning. He merely shrugged, holding her close to him. "I love this song," he merely stated.

Quistis smiled fondly and continued to rest her head against his chest as he softly whispered the lyrics to the song. The song ended and Squall gently kissed the top of her head. They walked off the dance floor as the waltz was coming on. Squall glanced around, grasping her hand tightly and pulled her along out of the dancing hall. Quistis followed him along, still mesmerized by the fact that he knew the lyrics to that song. Her favorite song. And he sang it in the original language.

They suddenly reached a small corridor. Squall leaned against the wall and pulled her over to him. Quistis smiled politely, keeping her head on his chest. For a while, they just stood there, the soft music of the waltz echoing into the hallway. Suddenly, a new song came on. Quistis smiled brightly and grabbed his hand, pulling him off of the wall and slowly dancing with him. She started to whisper the lyrics to the song, loud enough for Squall's ears to hear it. "Pride can stand a thousand trials, the strong will never fall."

"Are you singing?" he whispered softly in her ear.

"But watching stars without you...my soul cried...heaving heart is full of pain," she continued to sing.

"I can't believe you're singing," he whispered again.

"Oh, oh the aching..." He smiled down at her. "Cause I'm...kissing you...oh...I'm...kissing you, oh..." He kept smiling down at her, swaying with the music that played from the hall. "Touch...me deep...pure and true...give to me...forever...Cause I'm...kissing you," she started to sing louder now, "I'm...kissing you, oh..."

The violins and piano now took over their dancing. Squall looked down at her, amazed by her voice. They had stopped dancing, and it was more of slight swaying. Quistis had her head turned down, unable to look at Squall, her cheeks red with embarassment. "Where...are you now..." Squall walked away from her. "Where...are you now...Cause I'm..."

Squall grasped her head and kissed her deeply, having her unable to finish her song to him. She was hypnotized by his kiss, his soft hand rubbing her cheek gently. Her hand slowly etched its way up to his face, rubbing his bruise softly, before placing her hands around his neck. She had stopped singing, but the lyrics echoed in her mind_. "Kissing you..." A sadder voice sung out in her mind, but strong and loving at the same time, "I'm...kissing you oh!"_

A/N: No, this is not the ending. Although it would be one sweet ass ending...When I first heard "Complainte de la Butte", I was amazed beyond belief. It's in French. My boyfriend actually said that line to me while we were just listening to relaxing cause Rufus Wainright is his FAVORITE singer ever and I love that song to death. Not to mention my boyfriend speaks French fluently (INSERT BIG CHEESY GRIN) The lyrics mean: "I feel your device of fixing which seeks my hand. I feel your trunk and your fine size. I forget my pain that I feel on your lips. And under your caress I feel an intoxication which destroys me." Please Note: The song is from the movie, Moulin Rouge.

The next song, by Des'Ree is my song. It's from the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack. The new one, with Leonardo Di'Caprio and Claire Daines.

Question: Do you guys want me to continue, or end it here and now as it is?

Also: The contest results are in! It was a tought tie between Squall/Quistis and Seifer/Quistis. So, look out for my new story simply called "Love" to find out!


	12. Chapter Twelve

A/N: As Cailin pointed out in the reviews, Quistis switches from a pink dress to a black dress...in the same chapter...within ten minutes of each other. HAHA...like that's possible! When it says "black dress" its supposed to say "pink dress". I'm glad that everyone liked the last chapter. I was kinda iffy about it being all fluffy and of the sort. But, I guess it worked out for the better.

I got an email yesterday from a die hard Rinoa fan. It simply states that she will never read any more of my fanfiction until I do a story where I don't bash Rinoa.

...In all honesty, am I suppose to care about one fan? Do you guys seriously want me to write nicely of Rinoa? Possibly make a Squall/Rinoa? It's up to you, the readers. The people who review my stories are my main fans, not the people who e-mail once in a blue moon. As I said, do you want me to write a ONE-SHOT (anymore and I quite possibly could kill myself) Squinoa? Or shall I stick with Qualls? Or just do a group fic where everyone has someone?

...Review.

Chapter Twelve

Irvine walked quickly ahead of the two. Behind them, two SeeDs escorted Rinoa off of the Ragnarok. It was late at night, so there was no welcome commitee, but there was Selphie. "You guys!" she cheered and raced over to them, grasping Irvine's arm and pulling them into a tight hug. For such a tiny girl, she could hug all three of them at once. "How was Esthar? And Sir Laguna! How's he? I can't believe that Rinoa would do that! Even for a little attention! Quistis, how were all the priestesses?"

Questions flew out of Selphie's mouth a mile a minute. Irvine held up his hands and shook his head, his face stern. "Can we save the questions for tomorrow, Selph?" he asked as he walked away, his bag slung over his shoulder. His tan jacket swayed with him as he faded into the darkness of Balamb Garden. Quistis frowned.

"What's up with him?" she asked, turning to face the two. Squall merely shrugged and Quistis gave Selphie a soft look. "...What happened?"

"Selph," Quistis started. "Like he said...can this wait until tomorrow? We're all a little tired and worn from this trip and my feet are killing me."

Selphie sighed and pouted. "Ok, I guess. Over breakfast, though!" she said the last line in her happy tone. Quistis smiled and nodded. Selphie turned away and skipped back to the dorms. Quistis bent down to pick up her suitcase, only to feel a hardened hand. She turned and looked at Squall, who was also aiming for her suitcase.

"Squall," she whispered. "You promised..."

"Yea, and no one's around or awake..."

Squall lifted up her suitcase, while holding his bag, and began walking towards the dorms. Quistis picked up her other bag and followed Squall, her arms crossed over her chest. "Squall, what if someone is awake?"

"You said your feet hurt. I'm just helping you to your dorm..."

Quistis sighed as they continued down the hallway. She looked down at the ground, staring at the heels of his feet. They both stopped and Quistis pulled her keycard out, swiping it. With a soft whoosh, the doors opened and Squall walked in first, followed by Quistis. The doors shut with a whoosh, leaving the two out of people's eyesight. She heard the soft noise of her suitcase hitting the carpet, followed by the thud of Squall's bag. She felt his strong arms around her, but she was still looking at the ground. "Squall..."

He kissed her cheek softly, forcing her to look up at him. "What's wrong?" he asked in his unconcerned voice.

"Irvine...he...seems really angry..."

Squall sighed and released Quistis, sitting down on her bed. "Yea, I know..."

"I mean, he is our friend..."

"A friend that likes you..." he corrected her. "More than a friend, I should add."

Quistis rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. In all reality, her feet really did hurt. "I don't want him to do something stupid."

Squall casually looped his arm in hers and leaned his head against her shoulder. She smiled and patted his face with her other hand. "He's not going to do anything stupid like go and kill himself."

There was a loud scream that echoed through the hallways. Quistis immediately stood up, knowing whose scream that was. It was Selphies. She opened the door, seeing Selphie standing right at her door. "Now you answer!" she whispered.

Quistis gave her an odd look. "What?"

"I've been buzzing you for about five minutes!"

Squall suddenly appeared from behind the wall, staring at Selphie menacingly. "So you scream? You probably woke the whole Garden!"

Selphie blinked. "Squall? What...are...you doing in Quistis' room?"

Now Squall and Quistis blinked. As soon as Selphie's mouth opened, Quistis grabbed her and pulled her into her room, the door shutting immediately as she heard more doors opening. Squall sighed and leaned back on the bed. "Selphie," Quistis started.

"What going on?" she said, seeing the three bags on the floor, knowing that one of them was definately Squall's. "Please tell me this is nothing..."

Quistis looked over at Squall who merely shrugged. "Tell her if you want. The stupidest thing Irvine's going to do is tell the whole Garden."

"Squall, if the whole Garden finds out, I get fired or you."

Selphie stared at the two. "Why would either of you get fired? What's Irvine going to tell? I NEED TO KNOW!"

Quistis turned and looked at Selphie. She sighed and scratched her head. "Umm...ok...this is hard to explain..."

"No it's not, Quisty."

Selphie eyeballed Squall. "Did you just call her...Quisty? You never call Quisty, Quisty. Ever."

Squall blinked. "Yes I have..."

"No, really...you never have. What's so hard to explain?"

Quistis was blushing. "During the mission to Esthar..."

Squall sighed, tired of running around the bush. "Quistis and I hooked up and now we're going out and Irvine is jealous cause he's been trying to get with Quistis for a long time. Now, was that so hard, Quistis?" He was angered by Selphie's rude intrusion.

"Wait, you guys are going out?"

"We're going out?" Quistis asked at the same time as Selphie.

Squall blinked. "I..."

Selphie began to giggle like a mad woman. "This is so cute! Squall and Quisty, sitting in a tree!" she began to sing.

Squall stood up and grasped her elbows, pulling her close to him as Selphie continued to dance and sing. "If you want..."

Quistis could only smile and blush. Neither of them mentioned anything about going out. She was happy, with the upmost joy that Squall suspected they were going out. He gently kissed her forehead, knowing that she wanted to say yes. Suddenly, a loud 'aw' noise interupted their happiness. "Omigosh! This is so adorable!"

Quistis walked over to Selphie, holding her arms so she would stop dancing and jumping. "Selphie...please, you have to keep this to yourself. Squall and I can both seriously get fired for this. That's why we're so concerned with Irvine. If he tells..."

Selphie smiled politely. "I know. You can trust me to keep this a secret. And trust me, Irvine wouldn't do that, no matter how much he may like you Quistis. He's just going to impress you more and more everyday. That's the way he is!"

Squall frowned. "Did you have to say that in front of my presence?"

Selphie giggled as Quistis rolled her eyes. "Is Squally jealous?" Selphie teased. Squall picked up his bag and kissed Quistis' cheek gently. He pressed the button to open the door and it shut. Selphie turned and looked at Quistis. "Oh! What I came here for! Dur, I'm retarded!" she giggled out. Quistis smiled and picked up her bag, placing it down onto the bed. She opened it up and slowly began to unpack. "We're having a concert."

"So?" Quistis said. The only person who had ever heard her sing was Squall, and she intended to keep it that way.

"So...I was hoping that you would be able to play something on the piano!"

Quistis silently cursed herself. She forgot that she had played the piano that one time at Fisherman's Horizon. She sighed and looked at Selphie. "Can we discuss this tomorrow? Please?"

Selphie nodded her head. "Yea. We should all go out for breakfast!"

"All? Who's all of us?"

"Well, you, Squall, myself, Nida..."

"Nida?" Quistis exclaimed. Selphie giggled and left the room quickly. Quistis shook her head and continued to unpack. She pulled out the dresses Masako had given her and frowned. She would certainly be upset to give them back. She was beginning to like being a priestess. There was a loud thud. She looked up and around. She walked over to the door and opened it, not seeing anyone out in the hallway. She walked back into her dorm and heard the thud again. She looked to the window and opened it up, staring outside.

"Hey!" a voice called out. She looked around, finally seeing Irvine standing outside.

"What are you doing?" she called out. It was about a two story drop. "Why don't you just come up?"

"...is Squall with you?"

'Maybe Selphie was right,' she thought to herself. She looked down at him. She smiled, knowing he couldn't see it. It was romantic, in a stupid cliche way, that he decided to contact her through her...window. "No, he's not. Will you come up?"

"Come down."

She sighed and closed the window, quickly grabbing her whip. She was in a pair of jogging pants, a tank top, and wearing flip flops and quite thankful she wasn't wearing her normal attire. When she finally reached outside her window, she looked around, not seeing Irvine anywhere. "Irvine?"

Suddenly, he popped out, giving her a soft smile. "Hey."

She sighed and walked over to him. "What?"

"I'm sorry about the mission. I wasn't helpful at all...and I'm sorry that I fought with Squall. It was stupid and immature."

Quistis blinked. He was being very mature...perhaps more so than Squall. "Oh. And you couldn't call me for this?" She didn't want to give him false hope, but she didn't want to be a cold ice queen to him, either. "I mean..."

"And let you miss out on this?"

Suddenly, fireworks went off. Quistis' eyes opened wide as she saw the flash of color in the sky. Her mouth was agape, surprised as more fireworks went off. "What's this for?" she whispered out. She felt Irvine's hand reach for hers. She didn't pull away, but she didn't grab back.

"You."

"Me?" she asked, a bit shocked. "Why me?"

"Well, I had this planned for when we came back. I...was hoping that you'd go out with me..."

"Who's lighting them?" she immediately asked.

"Zell..." Quistis turned and looked back at the fireworks going off. Different colors lighted the night sky. She could hear a few of the students opening their windows and she looked as their heads started to pop out the windows. "Ah...I forgot about the onlookers!" he said with a laugh.

She looked at Irvine. He was being so unlike him. 'Selphie WAS right...that's a first,' she thought with a smile. Irvine smiled down at her, his brown eyes sparkling like amythists. She looked back at the fireworks, avoiding his stare. She hugged herself tightly, only to fill the heavy weight of his leather coatdrop onto her shoulders. "What..."

"I'm not giving up on you. I don't think I ever will, Quistis." He slowly reached into one of the pockets in his jacket, causing Quistis to step back some. He pulled out a square shaped box, handing it to her. "Forgot I had this in there...thought I put it in my pocket," he said with a smile.

Quistis took the box and opened it up, only to see a silver locket glistening the colors of the fireworks off of it. She smiled as she saw her birth month's flower, the Calendula. "What's this for?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Irvine picked up the pendant by its chain and quickly put it on her.

"The calendula stands for true love."

"Irvine..."

"That's what you are to me." They heard footsteps echoing in the grass. Quistis looked up to see the spunky haired boy walk up. "Hi Zell," Quistis said, smiling.

"Hey! Enjoy the show?" he called out walking over to them. Quistis nodded her head. "Ya like the pendant?" he asked, smiling brightly.

"Yes, I do," she responded. It fit her perfectly.

Irvine laughed. "Zell's looking for compliments. He made that necklace."

Quistis' eyes went wide open and stared at Zell. "You're kidding me? This is amazing work!"

"Ah...it's nothing really!" he said, waving a shy hand at Quistis. "So...you two going out now?" Irvine frowned, looking dead at Quistis, who in turn looked down at the ground. "Don't tell me I put on that fireworks display for no reason..."

"No, Zell! It was very sweet of Irvine...and of you, too. I...just..."

Irvine stared deeply into her sapphire eyes. "She just needs time to think about it, is all. Right Quistis?"

She began to blush and immediately took off his jacket and handed it back to him. "I best be going to bed, you guys. Got a long day ahead of me tomorrow..." She walked off and Irvine just watched her as she walked back to the Garden entrance.

Zell smiled and elbowed Irvine in the ribs. "Way to go man! I can't believe that you bagged Quistis!"

Irvine gave him a half smile. "I didn't bag her, Zell."

Zell smiled and nodded his head. "That's right. I should think before I talk next time! But, you know what I mean. You have the chance to be Quistis' first real boyfriend." Zell paused, his smiling face turning into a slight frown. "You're not gonna mess this up are you?"

Irvine shook his head. "I'll do anything but..."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Thanks Cailin and Zoe for the encouragement! I actually think I will write a (GULP) Squinoa...just to give it a try...doesn't hurt to try. But Cailin, I totally agree with you. Squinoas have completely taken over this fandom. There need to be more Qualls!

Oh, and Zoe...(giggles) When he said "I'll do anything but...", that was the response to Zell's comment. Like..."I'll do everything but mess it up." (giggles) Good way to end a chapter though! Makes a damn good cliff hanger! HAHA!

Chapter Thirteen

Quistis stared at the cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Despite the fact that she wanted coffee, she decided to change herself. Squall and Nida sat next to each other, and her and Selphie sat across from them. They were sitting at a lovely cafe called 'Sunrise' in Balamb. Selphie was laughing at a joke Nida made, causing Quistis to smile. Squall looked up at Quistis, giving her a slight smile as he sipped at his chamomile tea. She was surprised to find out that he hated coffee, and adored tea. "So, when did you two become a couple?" Quistis asked.

Selphie giggled and elbowed Quistis in the ribs. "We're not a couple!"

Squall lifted one eyebrow and looked at Selphie. "You both are acting like it..."

Nida laughed and began to drink his glass of milk. Quistis shook her head gently. The boy was certainly unlike others. "I'm waiting for the right time to ask her," he mumbled out. Selphie stuck her tongue out at him and began to move her feet back and forth. Nida rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, Selph...can't you sit still for one minute?"

Selphie giggled loudly. "Nope! Not until I figure what you have planned!"

Squall rolled his eyes and took a sip at his tea again. The waitress walked by and smiled politely at the foursome. "You folks ready to order yet?"

Selphie nodded her head eagerly. "Oh yes! I'm starving! You guys go ahead, I still need to figure out if I want pancakes or belgium waffles!"

Quistis smiled and folded the menu up. "I'll have the belgium waffles, please, with strawberries and whipped cream."

The waitress scribbled down her order and took the menu, turning to Squall. "Another cup of tea, if you would, and an order of eggs and bacon."

"How do you want them?" the waitress asked. Squall merely shrugged.

"He'll have them sunny side up," Quistis announced. Squall looked at her and smiled a true smile.

The waitress shrugged and wrote down that order. "And you?"

"Oh...I'll have the scrambled eggs and scrapple, please," Nida said, handing her the menu.

"And finally the bouncy one."

Selphie took a deep breath and handed her the menu. "Ok, first I want the mile high pancakes, with extra butter and syrup! Then, I'm gonna have the Galbadian egg, bacon, sausage, and scrapple meal! And I'm gonna finish it off with...belgium waffles with bananas and with apple syrup!"

Each one of them looked at Selphie, a bit wide eyed. She smiled and tilted her head, her tongue hanging out some. The waitress shrugged her shoulders and went off to place the order. "Geez, didn't think you could eat that much," Quistis announced.

"You think your shocked? That's about how much breakfast I eat in one week!" Nida exclaimed. Selphie giggled and wiggled her nose at Nida.

"Looks like you're in for more surprises! I love the food here! So I order as much as I think I can handle!" she giggled.

Quistis sighed. "How can you stay so thin?"

"Puh-lease! You're thinner than me!"

"Only cause I'm taller. If I ate that much, I'd blow up to the size of a whale!" Quistis rubber her head, amazed that she was so...concerned about her weight.

The food came out about ten minutes later, each one amazed at the size of the mile high pancakes. They were about the size of Selphie's head and piled up so they couldn't see her face. The only thing that they could hear was her giggle as she began to eat the pancakes and eggs and other scraps of meat at the same time. Nida had wide eyes, almost...scared at her eating. Quistis watched as Squall ate the semi-runny eggs with...was that joy she saw? She smiled as she chewed on another strawberry dipped in syrup and whipped cream.

They heard a loud belch and turned in Selphie's direction. She was already half way through the pancakes, and her Galbadian meal was basically done. "Excuse me!" she giggled out. Nida gave her a smile while blushing. "So, yea...about the concert..."

"What concert?" Squall immediately asked. No Garden Event would go through unless approved by the commander, which was him. "I didn't hear about a concert..."

She giggled. "That's because when the cat's away, the mice come out and play!"

Quistis gave her an odd look. "What does that mean?" she immediately asked.

"I was commander while Squall was gone!" she giggled out. They all heard the sound of silverware hitting the table. Quistis turned and looked at Squall who was slightly twitching. "Oh, don't be mad! I only passed this concert!"

"Selphie, don't forget to mention the other thing..."

"What other thing?" Squall mumbled through his teeth.

She smiled and held her finger in her mouth. "Umm...I also passed the Astronomy club's idea for a dance titled 'Under the Stars' which is for next week, when the meteor shower happens..."

Squall was gripping the edge of the table. "When is the concert?" he asked.

"Tonight."

"Tonight?" Quistis announced. "You expect me to play the piano without any practice by tonight?"

Selphie giggled and smiled. "Not like its gonna be hard! You're a natural at playing the piano...plus, the piano is already there and already on stage so you can practice all today! The concert starts at seven so its not like you don't have any time to practice!"

"You're playing the piano?" Squall asked.

Quistis looked at him softly. "Yea..."

Nida looked at the two and nudged Selphie with his foot. "Hey, I think we better get going. We have a lot more to plan."

Selphie chewed on the last peice of her belgium waffles and bounced out of the booth. "Ok you guys! We'll see you back at Garden later then! Don't forget to practice, Quisty! Oh, and Squall...you have a meeting with the Ecology club today about a concert for Environment Safety!" Squall looked at Quistis and blinked. He didn't even hear Selphie. He suddenly saw a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Squall! Come in Squall!"

"Huh, what?"

"You have a meeting at ten o'clock today with the Ecology club about a concert. Then you have a bunch of other meetings for other clubs! Have fun!" She hooked her arm into Nida's and strolled away, not even glancing back.

Squall sighed and reached for Quistis' hand. He examined her long fingers, noting that they were made for playing the piano. "So...you're playing the piano tonight." She nodded. "What song are you going to do?" he asked, still amazed by her beautiful hands.

"I don't know..."

He stood up and moved to the side where Quistis was sitting. He pushed his forehead against hers and looked dead in her eyes. "Do...our song."

"Our song?" she asked, pulling away and staring at his face.

He smiled and nodded his head. "The song you sang for me the other night...at the ball." He grabbed his wallet and placed down seventy five gil, more than enough to pay for the bill. He stood up and Quistis followed as they left the cafe. A few minutes past and they were off in the wilderness to get to Balamb Garden. "Will you?"

She smiled and looked around. There were no students out, no SeeDs, and no one at all. She grasped his hand and pulled it up to her mouth, kissing it gently. "I'll do it...but only for you."

"What?" he asked, slightly confused by her answer.

"I'm going to sing it, but only because I want to sing it to you and you only."

He gave her a slight smile. "How are you going to do that, pretell?"

"I'll just imagine that you're the only one there," she said with a soft slouch of her body. "Squall...why are you acting this way?"

He gently rubbed her arm with his hand, feeling her soft skin. "Acting what way?" She rolled her eyes. "Oh...what, you mean romantic?"

"Yes."

"And cheesy?"

"...well, yes."

"And acting like a complete moron whenever I'm around you?"

"...not a compelte moron," she giggled out. He lifted her head with his finger and kissed her lips softly.

He paused for a second, allowing her eyes to open fully. "Because I love to see you happy." They released each others hands, walking slowly back to the Garden. They walked in pace with each other, their hands brushing every so often, letting each other know that they were there. Squall suddenly stopped and pulled off a necklace. "Here."

He placed the necklace into her hand, walking a bit faster now. Quistis sighed, hating to keep their relationship such a secret. She opened her hand as Squall neared the Garden. She smiled and closed her hand again, holding her fist to her heart. It was _his_ ring. Not a copy, or a fake...but really his.

A/N: Awww...OOC romantic mushy crap! How we all love the OOC romantic mushy crap! I'm really trying to keep Squall in character here, but...I don't wanna! I want everyone to see the side of Squall that I see! If the OOC is too much, just let me know.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

A/N: (blinks) Where the hell am I going with this story? ...I need to think of an idea. I may have to steal yours diddly, and yours too, divine...

Chapter Fourteen

Quistis sighed, staring intensely at the ivory and ebony keys. She didn't really want to do this. She didn't feel comfortable...at all. She turned her head out towards what would be a full crowd of people, and stared back at the piano keys. She couldn't do this. She wouldn't be forced. She immediately stood up, but sat back down as she heard one of the large doors open. She looked around, her eyes resting on Irvine. "Hey," she called out from across the Quad. She could hear his footsteps echoing, making her realize just how loud her voice would be heard. Maybe she could just play the piano.

She heard a loud thump and looked at Irvine. He was now standing on top of the stage, smiling down at her. "Hey." He walked closer to the piano, leaning against it. "Practicing much?"

"Contemplating," she simply responded. She didn't know what she was going to play. Squall wanted her to play the song she sung to him...but she wanted that to be private, solely theirs.

"On what?" he asked. He walked closer to her and stared down at the keys now too.

"Whether or not I want to do this."

Irvine gave her an odd look and sat down next to her. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't you? Just think of it! You, in front of all those people! Your students and friends in a hush quiet listening to you."

She twitched. "That's the bad part. Care to tell me the good part?"

He blinked. It all seemed rythmatic. He laid his head onto her shoulder, his long fingers stretching onto the piano. "The better part is, you get to play something so beautiful as this work of art."

He straightened his head, extending both arms and resting them on the keys. Slowly, his fingers danced across the piano, the music flowing through the air. Quistis watched in amazement as his long fingers touched one key, and immediately touched another. The music was like the wind, blowing into her ears and brushing her hair. He suddenly stopped, and turned towards Quistis, giving her a half smile. "Why'd you stop?"

He laughed. "I don't know the rest of it. Wish I did though..."

Quistis smiled and stood up, walking to the edge of the stage and sitting down. Irvine turned his body, his legs on either side of the piano bench. "Why don't you learn it so you can play it tonight?"

"Nope. I'm playing the guitar."

She turned towards him. "Oh?"

"Yea. Selphia BEGGED me to do something, even strip, so I decided to play guitar." He smiled and stood up, sitting down next her and elbowing her elbow. "What song are you going to do?"

She moved her legs back and forth. "I dunno. Maybe...'Kissing You' or...something like that."

He smiled. "Oh? What, are you...hinting at something."

She turned her head and was inches away from Irvine's face. She began to nervously bite her lip and immediately turned her head away from Irvine. "Hinting at what?" she asked, pushing her blonde hair to her side.

She heard Irvine chuckle and felt him move away from her. He jumped off of the stage and walked towards the door. She looked up, seeing the door open and Squall walk in. The two paused and looked at each other, causing Quistis to jump down and walk briskly over to them. Irvine stepped to the side, extending his hand for Squall to walk by. Quistis stopped walking, watching Squall walk over to her and Irvine walk away. That's all what people seemed to be doing around her...walk. Squall paused in front of her, hearing the door close behind him. He looked around, seeing the decorations done. "What was that about?" he finally asked.

"He wanted to talk to me."

Squall nodded his head, his fingers lightly touching hers. She continued to look down at the ground, the corner of her eye catching his fingers lightly brushing hers. Despite the fact that she wanted to grab that hand, she let the touch of his rough hand tickle her soft skin. "What about?" he asked.

"The concert tonight." Ok, so she wasn't really lying to him.

"Oh, that reminds me..." She looked up at him, his eyes staring into hers. "I need to kill Selphie."

She giggled brightly, her face lighting up the room. She placed her hand up to cover her mouth, but it was quickly pulled down by his own. "What was that for?" she asked.

"You're beautiful when you laugh. Why are you trying to hide it all the time?" She simply shrugged and walked away from him. He followed her up onto the stage. He let his fingers dance across the piano. Quistis stopped and turned to look at him.

"So, why do you need to kill Selphie?" she asked, trying to act as natural as she could.

He sat down on the piano bench, facing away from the piano. "Because she passed this concert."

Quistis smiled and walked behind the curtains, her hand motioning for him to follow her. His eyes watched as he hand danced behind the curtains and he slowly got up and followed her. He walked up to her, his hands slowly rubbing her arms and pulling her into a hug. "You should let it go. It'll be fun," she immediately said.

"Fun for you, yea. But I'm the one that has to figure out how muc everything is going to be and place it on Garden's limited account for concerts and dances. I had to talk to the Astronomy club and cancel their idea...as with all the other clubs."

She smiled. "I'm assuming the entire school is pissed at you then."

"With the exception of you." He turned her around and kissed her forehead lightly. She tilted her head up some, her lips craving his. They suddenly heard the door open and Squall pulled her into a tight embrace, walking further back behind the curtains.

"See Lizzie! I told you no one was here!" a man's voice called out.

The girl's voice, Lizzie, soon echoed. "Still, Sean! I can't believe you wanna do it here! In the Quad!"

Sean laughed a little. "Not like anyone cares, Liz! Everyone in Garden does it in the Quad at least once!"

Squall kissed Quistis' forehead again and immediately walked out of the curtains, staring at the two. "What's going on here?" he asked in a calm voice.

The girl squeaked and looked up at Squall. Small brown cards floated to the ground and she bent down to quickly pick them up. "Sorry, Commander!" her voice moused out.

Sean coughed some, holding up his enclosed hand. They were the Triple Triad cards. Squall sighed and extended his hand. "I'm going to have to take those."

Sean frowned, looking pleadingly at the commander. "But! Commander Leonhart! We were just gonna play a round or two! Why?"

"The quad is off limits for the concert tonight. You can get the cards back at the end of the week."

Sean and Lizzie walked up, handing him their decks. He placed them in separate pockets and watched as the walked out of the Quad. Quistis emerged from the curtains and frowned at him. "They were just going to play a game..."

"Oh, like you have room to talk, Queen of Triple Triad. Off limits, is off limits."

Quistis rolled her eyes and jumped off of the stage. "Well, are you going to punish me for being in her?" she said in a coy voice. She looked up at him, her sapphire eyes twinkling with mischief.

He jumped down and grabbed her waist, lifting her up into the air. She laughed and steady her hands on his shoulders. "Well, that all depends..."

"On what?" she asked as she was soon cradled in his arms. Her arms wrapped around his neck, holding onto him.

"Meet me in my room in fifteen minutes..."

She laughed and smacked him playfully on the chest. "What is with you?" she laughed out. "You're being so unlike you!"

He kissed her, causing her laughing to stop. He pulled slowly away, dragging her bottom lip with him until it could go no further. He kissed her again, this time releasing her bottom lip. "I just want some privacy with you..."

She smiled and nodded her head. "Fine. But I have to be out of there by 17:00...I have a concert to prepare for!"

A/N: I don't like this chapter either!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**A/N**: Diddly: You'll see what I mean when I say steal your ideas a little bit later. Not really stealing, per say...merely...erm...borrowing? Yea, that works. LOL! I'm glad that you guys enjoyed the last chapter. I'm kinda losing my confidence in this story, but I want to finish it. No...I HAVE to finish it. I shouldn't even be writing now, but the more I update, the more room for new ideas! Soon, I'll finish Silent Cries/Silent Dreams. And then I'm going to continue Rebel With A Cause and Goodnight, My Love. And I have most of "LOVE" done...I just want to keep revising and adding on to it!

**A/N #2**: I know I'm finishing this. It'll end in a matter of 5-10 chapters. Oh...and the song is owned by DJ Sammy and Yanou "Heaven (Candlelight remix)" and YES...I know we're not supposed to have songfics...but this isn't a songfic.

Chapter Fifteen

Quistis sighed as she paced back and forth on the stage. She could hear the orchestra playing songs so that the people could dance while they were waiting for the next performer to go on stage. Quistis paused and looked at the piano. She had decided not to sing the song she had sang to Squall. She looked around, gently rubbing down the front of her short black dress. It only came up to her knees, and she had on strappy heels.

She sat down on the piano bench, her soft fingers gently brushing the keys. She felt the heat of the lights flash onto her skin, a drop of sweat immediately falling down her face. She did not want to do this one bit. She heard the curtains open, the roar of applause, and then silence.

Her fingers gently pushed the keys down, the melody flying out into the air. She tilted her head towards the microphone, her sweet voice in perfect harmony with the music.

_"Oh, thinking about our younger years  
There was only you and me  
We were young and wild and free...  
Now, nothing can take you away from me  
We've been down that road before...  
But that's over now...  
You keep me coming back for more..."_

She heard the crowd shush, there was no movements, no sway of dresses. She kept her eyes tightly closed, stage fright overcoming her.

_"Baby, you're all that I want,  
When you're lying here in my arms...  
I'm finding it hard to believe...  
We're in heaven...  
And love is all that I need,  
And I found it there in your heart,  
It isn't too hard to see,  
We're in heaven..."_

Her hands danced magically across the keys of the piano. A single tear rolled down her eyes, thoughts of Squall in front of her face. it was the one thing that kept her calm. Her voice lifted up, the music floating into people's ears.

_"Oh, once in your life  
you find someone...who wil turn your world around,  
pick you up when your feeling down...  
Now, nothing can change what you mean to me...  
There's a lot that I could say,  
But just hold me now...  
'Cause our love will light the way..."_

She breathed in, her voice going stale. But she didn't stop and she continued to hold onto the sob that was erupt from her thoat.

_"Baby, you're all that I want,  
When you're lying here in my arms...  
I'm finding it hard to believe...  
We're in heaven...  
And love is all that I need,  
And I found it there in your heart,  
It isn't too hard to see...  
We're in heaven..."_

Her voice soared as she picked up the volume.

_"I've been waiting for someone,  
for something to arrive...  
for love to come along...  
Now our dreams are coming true,  
Through the good times  
And the bad...  
I'll be standing there by you!"_

Her hands paused, and then continued to move on, keeping the melody alive in the quad.

_"Baby, you're all that I want,  
When you're lying here in my arms...  
I'm finding it hard to believe...  
We're in heaven...  
And love is all that I need...  
And I found it there in your heart!  
It isn't too hard to see!  
We're in heaven..."  
_

Finally, the ending spoke louder than any lyric she sang.

_"Ohh, ohh, ohh!  
Ohh, ohh, ohh...  
We're in heaven..."_

She played the last few notes, and then her hands stopped moving. She suddenly heard a loud cheer, causing her eyes to open. She looked throughout the quad, the many faces of her students and colleagues staring at her, applauding her, standing around for her. A bright rose color grew to her face. She stood up and trotted off stage, tears spilling out of her eyes. She had imagined just Squall standing out there, watching her with those intense eyes. She leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. "Quistis! You did amazing!" a voice called out. She heard the echo of heels and looked up, staring at the long yellow dress and the bright green eyes of Selphie. "I didn't know you could sing like that!"

"It's...nothing," she whispered, her voice dry and hoarse from realizing what she had just done.

"Nothing? You did great!" The voice belonged to Zell, she turned and looked at Zell in a suit, alongside of him was Irvine. It looked like he was crying.

"Thanks," she whispered out, staring back at the ground. Selphie cheered and looked out at the crowd. They were still clapping for Quistis and Quistis was growing redder. She stood up and immediately left her friends. She sighed and looked around, realizing she was backstage. She walked down a set of stairs, waving as a few people commented her singing. She came to the end of the backstage and looked around, sure enough...there was Squall. She walked over to him, nonchalantly pushing her hair behind her ear. "Hi."

He looked up upon hearing her voice. He walked over to her, placing his hand onto her waist, kissing her lips gently. "I want to dance with you," he whispered in her ear. She blushed. "In front of people."

"Are you mad?" He shook his head. "What do you think people are going to say? Better yet, what do you think they'll do?" she asked, pulling away from Squall. It was hard to have a secret relationship, even if it had been a few days.

"I don't care. Not anymore...after you sang that song..."

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want to lose my job again, Squall. Look...can we just keep it a secret just a little longer?" she asked. She hated having a secret relationship, especially when it was the one relationship she wanted so much. She reached for his hand and he immediately pulled it away. She looked at him pleadingly, but his eyes were cold as ice.

"Fine," he mouthed out. He spun around and walked away, his brown hair bobbing up and down. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her, and his eyes still had that cold death glare.

"Squall. Don't start. You knew this was going to have to be this way..."

"Fine," he said once more. He tried to pull his hand away, but she held it firmly. "Look, you weren't out there. You didn't hear those guys talking about how they were going to dance with you. Do you realize how that made me feel? I don't like this!" he finally exclaimed, his hands now in the air.

"You think I do?" she asked accusingly. "I wish I could scream out to the world about how I feel for you! But I can't, because then you'll lose your job and I'll lose mine!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "...whatever..."

With that, he walked away and quickly. Quistis opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She pulled off her shoes and grasped them firmly in her one hand. She ran down the hall, taking the backway to the hallways, following Squall. "Squall!" she called out.

He stopped and turned around, that same look still in his eyes. "What?" he asked uncaringly.

She stopped a few feet in front of him, catching her breath. "Don't do this," she whispered. "Can we talk?"

He sighed and looked at her. Her face was red, probably due from the stage fright she had just barely recovered from, from their little spit, and from chasing after him. "Go talk to a wall..."

Her face immediately shot up. "What?" she whispered.

His eyes dropped, the icy glare leaving his face. "Quistis," he reached for her, but she pulled away.

"I can't believe you just said that." She shook her head. She wasn't going to cry. 'You're not going to cry,' she told herself. Her heels dropped to the floor and she immediately began walking quickly through the empty hallways. She felt his hand wrap around her wrist. "What?" she mumbled out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that." His voice was sincere.

'Don't look at him!' she screamed in her head. She merely shrugged. "Whatever, Squall."

She pulled her arm away and began walking again. She heard his footsteps behind her, but they were ignored. Why did it matter if he followed her or not? He didn't want it to be a secret and she couldn't afford to lose her job...again. "Quistis. Will you look at me?" he asked as they neared her door. She stopped and turned around, her sapphire eyes brimmed with tears. She was thankful for the darkened halls. She saw that he was carrying her heels and frowned. Why was he being so sweet after being so mean?

"Yes?" she asked as cold as she could muster up inside of her. He handed her the heels, and she took them. "Thanks..."

"I really didn't mean to say that. I was just...angry. At myself mainly. I know you want to keep it a secret...but I can't."

She merely shrugged. She knew if she began to talk, she would start to cry. And Quistis did NOT want to cry in front of Squall. "Ok..."

She turned back to her dorm and slid her keycard through. It beeped and she walked in. She saw Squall standing in her doorway, frowning. "If you want to keep it a se..."

She interupted him. "No, you know what Squall? Go ahead...tell the world. I don't care if I lose my job. Obviously you don't. I mean...come on now? Who would Cid fire? You or me?"

"Don't..."

"Seriously, Squall! Why the hell would he fire you? You're the commander. Hyne forbids he loses his precious commander!"

They were fighting. Squall was too hard-headed to give in and Quistis was too worked up and stubborn. Quistis pressed the button to close the door, and it shut immediately. She heard him sigh outside, and then his footsteps walking away. Quistis sighed and leaned against the door, sliding down and bringing her feet into her chest.

Outside in the hallway, Irvine walked down the hall to her dorm. He saw Squall walking, his face bunched up in an angry look. Or perhaps he was thinking. Irvine could never tell the difference between the two. "Squall?" he asked.

Squall walked by him. He felt Irvine grab his arm and immediately spun around. "What?" he asked. His voice was as cold as it was the first day Irvine met him. It gave him chills then, and it gave him chills at that moment.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Irvine blinked. "What about Quistis?"

"Go ask her. How would I know?" he mumbled. Irvine blinked again.

"...What happened, dude?"

"Why the hell do you care? You want her."

"But I'm not gonna take her from you when she's vulnerable...what happened?"

Squall sighed and threw his hands up. "Whatever!" he called out, he spun around to walk away, but felt Irvine tapping his shoulder. He turned back around, glaring at the cowboy. "What?"

"Will you just tell me what happened? Did you and Quistis get into a fight? Did you guys break up?" his voice was hopeful at the end.

"Might as well have..."

"Fuck you," a female voice called out from behind Irvine. Both Irvine and Squall looked down the hall, staring at Quistis. She went to go walk back into her room, but Irvine was too quick for her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her tight. "Let me go! I don't want to look at him!"

Squall growled loudly, walking over to Irvine and shoving him off of her. "Don't touch her!"

Quistis immediately pushed Squall, and hard for her size versus his. "Why do you care? You said so yourself!"

Irvine grasped Quistis' arm, pulling her away from the raging lion. "Quistis, don't say that. He does care..."

Squall roared loudly, his hands flying to his hair. "WHAT THE HELL! Irvine, you want her! Why are you backing me up?"

Quistis roared back, ready to lash out. "Why do you even care if he's backing you up? You obviously don't want me!" If Irvine wasn't holding onto her waist, she would have began to fight Squall, whether he was male or not.

"Hey! Whoever said anything about not wanting you, Quistis?" Squall yelled back into her face. "I just wanted it to be known that we were going out!"

"So I could lose my job?" she yelled back accusingly. Irvine placed both arms around her.

"You know, Quistis...you're pretty strong..."

Both Quistis and Squall screamed at him, "SHUT UP!"

His eyes opened wide. "Squall, go take a breather!" he ordered as he dragged Quistis into her room. Her door shut and Squall was left there. He grabbed his hair again, frustrated by women and by Irvine.

Irvine placed Quistis down onto the couch that was in her room and pinned her down. "Irvine! Let me go!" she cried out.

"You're lucky that everyone is at that concert..." He released her and walked over to the door, leaning against it. She stood up and glared at him. "Quisty...that may work on Squall and that may threaten your students, but your glares just make me giggle."

She shook her head and picked up a paperweight, throwing it dead at his face. He ducked and looked up at her, his eyes in shock. "Let me out of here," she demanded. She wanted to talk with Squall...rather...fight with him and scream at him.

"Holy shit. That could've hit me!"

"No duh. Let me out."

"Hell no! Not when you're acting this way!" He stayed put at the door, despite the fact she was eyeballing the other paperweight. "Quistis. Just calm down. Squall's going to calm down, too. Then, when you're both calm...you guys can talk it out." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Now what the hell is going on between the two of you?"

"He wants our little secret out in the open."

Irvine paused. "So?" he asked.

"So! So that's basically saying I'm fired!" she exclaimed. Irvine held up his hands.

"Ok, ok! But...you'd be with Squall. Which is something you always wanted."

"But if I lose my job, how do suspect that we see each other?"

Irvine opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it. He scratched his head and looked at her. "Point taken."

"Now, you tell me why you're trying to help us out."

"Because you're both my friends."

"But you like me."

Irvine shrugged. "Me liking you takes a backseat to friendship, hon."

She gave him an odd look and sat down onto the couch. "I just want to be happy..."

"You ever think that being in Garden isn't what your happiness should be?" he asked. She looked up at him, only to simply shrug. "Listen...I do like you...a lot...and I still want to go out with you...and I'll be here for you no matter what happens..."

She nodded her head and stared at her hands that were sitting in her lap. "Irvine...you don't have to be so nice to me, you know..."

He laughed and opened the door. "But I want to be. It's fun to boggle your mind."

She picked up the other paperweight and threw it at Irvine...but the door immediately closed.

**A/N**: I really like how this chappie turned out! Oh just wait until the next one!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

A/N: Round 16...this will be ending very shortly, don't worry...I know you're all getting bored with it.

Chapter Sixteen

Quistis sat at the computer, her longfingers dancing across the keyboard. She had thankfully a free day with no classes. She paused her typing and looked at the screen, silently cursing the student who wrote the paper. "Never heard you use that kind of language before," a male voice called out. She looked up, seeing Irvine standing in the doorway. She frowned slightly, wishing that it was Squall. He had been avoiding her like the plague and every time they did see each other, Quistis was too bitter to even go up and talk to him.

"Yea, well...you try grading these papers. I swear, if I find one more spelling mistake in this guy's paper, I'm going to murder him," she mumbled.

Irvine walked over to the desk and looked at the screen from behind Quistis. "You missed one." She blinked. "He spelled 'deadly' wrong."

Quistis read the line. True enough, she did miss one. She sighed and leaned into the keyboard, random amounts of letters and numbers dancing across the screen. "I hate teaching cadets..."

Irvine laughed and patted her back. "I thought that you wanted your old job back?"

"It was never this bad..."

There was a soft knock at the door and Quistis looked up, seeing Squall standing at the door. "Quistis, Irvine," he said in an all-too-professional tone. She stood up, nodding her head at him.

"Yes, commander?" she said with venom

Irvine and Squall both cringed. "Headmaster Cid would like to speak to all of us."

She nodded her head, grasping her briefcase in her hand and immediately left the room. Irvine shrugged towards Squall and immediately walked after Quistis. Squall sighed, grasping his forehead tightly in his hands. He followed the other two, reaching the elevator last. Quistis stepped in and waited for Irvine and Squall to enter as well. She sighed and pressed the button, waiting for the minute to go by. She leaned against the window as Irvine slowly twiddled his thumbs and as Squall watched her.

The doors opened and each one stepped off of the elevator, sitting down on that same bench that started it all, except, this time, Quistis sat in the corner closer to the doors, and Squall sat closer to the elevator. Xu looked up from her desk, noting how sullen they each looked. The door opened from Cid's office, and Cid stepped out, smiling brightly. "Please, come in!"

One by one they each filed into the office, taking their seats appropriately. "So, what's up this time?" Irvine said, finally breaking the silence. Cid smiled at him and took his seat as well.

"Seeing as how you three made such a wonderful team in Esthar," he paused, glancing at Quistis' turned head, to Irvine's dead set gaze, to Squall's...normal...stare, and began again, "I am sending you three on a mission to Dollet."

Irvine sighed, leaning back into the chair. "What's it this time, Cid?" he moaned out. Squall shot him a death glare.

"Well, there have been attacks." Each one of their heads perked up some. "Attacks from bugs." And they dropped again.

"Bugs, sir?" Quistis asked from her turned down head. "What types of bugs?"

Cid shrugged, leaning back in the chair. "We're not sure. It'll be you three...I want you to collect samples. You leave immediately, kill the hive, take samples, and come back. That simple." They all froze. Nothing ever started off that simple. Squall shook his head, leaving the room first. He was followed by Irvine and then Quistis. "Nida will take you three to the docks, from there, you'll hop on the Garden mini-sub and go to Dollet. You return when you're done. Squall," he said before Irvine interupted him.

"Yea, we know. He's in charge."

Cid coughed gently, causing them to look at him. "Actually, I was about to say, Squall will not be in charge of this mission." Squall shrugged, opening the elevator doors. "Instead, Quistis will be."

Quistis blinked, dumbfounded. He shooed them away and entered back into his office. Irvine clasped Quistis on her shoulder, only to result in recieving a death glare from Squall. "Congrats, boss." Quistis laughed slightly, entering the elevator with Irvine trailing behind.

ooooo

They sat on the boat and Quistis stood behind the holographic map of Dollet. She breathed in and released the tension in her body. She spun around to face them, staring through the image and then at the image. "Our mission is to dispose of these bugs. The most information that we have is that the workers stay by the sea, and the queen stays near the hive. We don't have to worry about the worker bugs, but the guard bugs need to be eliminated."

Irvine nodded, pulling out his Exeter. "Easy as pie..."

"Each of us will have a sample case attached to our safety belts. We must collect a sample of the hive, one of the guard bugs, and then a sample of the queen bug herself." She paused and pressed a button under the image. Suddenly, a red light lit the screen. "The hive and the queen are located by the communications tower, the exact spot, however, is unknown."

"So, are we going off alone or staying in a group?" Squall asked. Quistis turned to look at him. Cid hadn't briefed her on that. But they each had a sample kit.

"...I leave it up to you two to decide."

She turned off the image and sat down. They had a half an hour to go. Squall scowled. "I say we go as a group."

She blinked. "Well, I think we should go off alone," Irvine responded.

Quistis sighed. Another fight...

"Group."

"Alone."

"Group!"

"Alone!"

She sighed and stood up. "Stop it! We'll let a coin decide this. Heads we go as a group, tails we go alone, ok?" They each nodded their heads. She pulled a piece of gil out of her pocket, flipping it into the air. They heard the chime of metal hitting metal, and Quistis bent down, looking at the top side of the coin. "Heads."

She sat back down, adjusting her hair. Silence loomed in the air as the three of them sat in a perfect triangle, with Quistis right at the peak. The boat rocked and Quistis immediately stood up. She walked over to the bridge to step out on deck. Neither of the guys looked up at her, or even at all. She stepped onto the deck, the wind immediately lifting her hair back. She stared at Dollet, her memories flooding her head. She hadn't been here in the longest time.

They docked and Quistis turned around, motioning for the two to follow her. They each stood up, holding their weapons. Squall walked out first, staring at the shore. Sure enough, there were bugs dancing on the seafoam. Irvine stepped out next, noting there were larger, more frightening bugs looming the area. "So...we kill the guards, right?"

Quistis nodded her head, slowly pulling out her whip. "Just...be careful."

They took a few steps, and within an instant, three guard bugs flew at their heads. They each dodged carefully. Quistis silently casted a scan spell. She opened her eyes, reading the information in front of her. "Level eighty six! Health is over ten thousand! They're weak against ice!"

Squall nodded his head and immediately casted triple on himself. Irvine loaded his gun, shooting at the furthest one to the left. It only took off a few hundred points. "Good defense!"

The bugs flew at them, and Quistis countered, knocking one back and away from herself. Squall was hit, but ignored the measily scratch on his arm. Quistis slowly reached into the depths of her mind, closing her eyes and melting into her thoughts. 'Shiva...,' she whispered into her head. She slowly felt the chill of ice crawl over her body. She heard Squall cast blizzaga, once on each of them. She then heard Irvine's gun echo out. She opened her eyes, only to be pulled away from the battle. They returned, the three bugs falling limp to the ground.

Irvine placed his gun in his other hand, grabbing a small test tube with a lid attached to his belt and bent down, scooping up a few reminents of the dead guard bug. He sealed the tube and stuck it back on his belt. "Done. So...are there anymore around here?"

"Probably. Let's just head up to the communications tower and collect the other two samples we need. After that, while we head back down here, we'll see if there's anymore." Quistis placed her whip back onto her hip, walking past the beach and onto the road. Irvine followed behind her, with Squall in the back. His head was hung down.

They entered more and more battles the closer they got to the communications tower. Quistis sighed, looking around. There was the doorway to the elevator that led to the top of the tower. No need to go in there. She looked around from the cliff, kicking a stone gently. Squall walked over to her, letting out a huff of air. "Careful. Selphie slipped doing that..."

"...whatever." Quistis merely shrugged and turned to Irvine who was looking around. She went to walk towards the center of the two boys, only to feel the ground give way underneath her. She first heard the few stones hitting the ground, and then felt herself tumbling sideways and backwards and forewards then backwards again and hitting the ground with a thud. Squall looked down at her, his eyes filled with fear. Irvine rushed over next to him, braking exactly at the spot where Quistis fell.

"You ok?" she heard Irvine call out.

She saw Squall turn his head, his mouth moving. She then saw Irvine push him to the side. She groaned and laid back, her eyes staring at the sun. There they were...fighting again. "Maybe I could get transferred to Trabia...or even Galbadia...perhaps I could get a job with the Priestesses...they all seemed to like me," she said, talking to no one in particular.

She heard a loud buzzing noise echoing in the background. "QUISTIS!"

She sat up, looking up at Squall. He leapt with ease down the cliff, his gunblade drawn and the fur around his collar blowing in the wind. She turned her head as he was nearing, seeing a huge bug with three horns and six wings flying straight at her. She spun around, now facing the Queen, grasping her whip. Within a second, Squall landed with a thud, his gunblade threatening the Queen. Shots fired down from the cliff and she looked up, seeing Irvine holding his Exeter, wheeling it around his hand.

The Queen buzzed back to her place, each pair of wings moving rhythmatically. "Where the fuck did she come from?" Quistis announced. Irvine inched closer to the edge, his fear of heights over coming him. He closed his eyes and leapt, causing Quistis to look at him flapping in the air.

"HOLY SHIT!" he screamed out as he landed with a thud. He tumbled forward, now just inches in front of Squall.

He immediately stood up, regaining his composure. "From the hive. I told you to be careful!" Squall scolded her. He turned his head towards her, his face angry at her but his eyes worried. Within seconds, the Queen charged towards his distracted body.

"Look out!" Irvine called, pulling Squall to the side he was on. Quistis ran out of the way just in time as the Queen horned the cliff. Rocks pelted down, causing her to go into a berserk state.

Quistis released her whip on the bug, causing the Queen to stare directly at her with her fly-like eyes. Quistis' face turned to total disgust as a slime seeped out of its mouth. She cracked the whip again, causing the bug to reel up some, threatening Quistis.

"Quisty! Get over here, NOW!" It was Squall's voice.

"How the hell do you propose I do that?" she yelled angrily.

"This is no time to be angry at me! GET OVER HERE, that's an order!" he yelled.

She then heard Irvine's voice as the bug reeled more. "Hey! Isn't she the leader?"

"SHUT UP!" Squall yelled. He sighed, shaking his head, seeing the bug start to corner Quistis. "Listen, if anything goes wrong...it was NOT Quistis' fault, ok?"

Irvine blinked and simply nodded his head. "What are we gonna do? That thing has too much defense..."

"Well...hit it with as much as you have. I'm gonna get Quisty out of there."

"...Quisty? When did you start using that?"

"Um...guys!" They both turned to see the bug had moved a good ten feet, and Quistis was whipping it repeatedly. Every time she had tried to summon Shiva, the Queen attacked.

Irvine immediately casted blizzaga, causing the bug to spin around. Squall charged, spinning and slicing at the bug. He was now on Quistis' side. "You ok?" he asked, briefly looking at her as Irvine casted another blizzaga.

"No damage done to me. Shiva's dead though."

Squall nodded his head, turning it slightly to face her. "Hey...I'm sorry..."

"WATCH OUT!" she called as the Queen immediately stung its stinger into Squall's arm. He yelled in pain, swinging his gunblade directly at its face. The bug reeled back, running away to the hive. Irvine rushed over to the pair, looking at the large stinger embedded in Squall's arm. "Shit!" she cried out.

"Oh Hyne...I think I'm gonna puke..."

Green pus oozed from the wound as Squall blinked. "Irvine! Heal him!" She immediately threw the first aid kit and her own Curagas at the cowboy, her face red with anger. She cracked her whip, immediately healing Shiva afterwards.

"Quistis! You are not facing that alone!" Irvine cried out. He was torn. Squall wasn't moving and Quistis was too fired up to even note that the bug was basically immune to everything. She ran off to the hive, her whip flying out, causing the Queen to emerge once more, buzzing wildly around the ground, picking up dust. "Ah...shit!" he cried. He bent down and casted a Curaga spell on Squall, causing Squall to jolt some. Irvine looked at the stinger, his eyes ready to tear. "Squall?" he called out, finally, his face churning as more green pus oozed. "Squall? Answer me..."

Squall merely dozed off, his eyelids fluttering.

Irvine turned around, watching Quistis unleash limit break after limit break after summon on the Queen. Within a few more minutes, it was dead. Quistis panted, her body going limp. Irvine rushed over to her, pointing at Squall. She mustered up all the strength she had and walked over to him, ordering Irvine to take plenty of samples of the queen and the hive. He did as he was instructed.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17

It had been two days since the incident. Squall was in the infirmary, and each one of his childhood friends had watched over him at one point or another during the day. Irvine and Quistis reported to Cid that Squall had gotten hurt on his own accord and by his own actions, despite the fact that Quistis wanted to shout to the world that he had done it protecting her stupid self. Yet, they both knew, with Quistis being the leader, that she would again have her Instructor's liscense taken away. Quistis was now watching him. There was no improvements in his conditions.

The needle that had been stuck in his arm released a poison inside of Squall. Dr. Kadowaki had been examining the poison, only stating that it would affect a part of his brain. She let out a small huff of air. Knowing the way how her luck had been the past few weeks, it would leave Squall either brain damaged...or dead.

Irvine walked behind her, staring at the window. "Irvine...Squall's going to seriously hate me, now..."

"I doubt that."

She turned her eyes towards them, the sapphire in them glistening with tears. "Why are you being so nice to us?" she asked.

"...because I hope that you see I'm better than Squall."

She frowned, staring back to the window, watching Squall's face. She let out another huff of air. "And you're still trying?"

"I don't see why not..."

They stood there for what seemed like an hour, but was really only a few minutes. Irvine coughed and Quistis turned to look at him. "You're still here?" she asked him.

"Yea..."

"Any reason why?"

He thought for a moment, his eyes wandering from the window where Squall was and down to her. "Cause...you look like you need company." She let out another huff of air, this one causing a small fog to rise up on the window. "And I don't really want to spend a second more without you."

Her eyes coolly glanced over at him, tears still building up and refusing to fall. "Ah! There you two are!" They both glanced over to Dr. Kadowaki, who held a stack of papers in her arms. Irvine casually walked over to her, picking up the papers from her arms. "Thank you, Irvine. Well, since you're both here, I'm sure you'll go and tell the others. The poison that was released into him attacks a certain part of his memory."

Quistis choked a little. "Memory? Like...his childhood?"

Dr. Kadowaki nodded. "His childhood, his adulthood, how to fight, how to walk, his...relatives...anything."

"Do you know which one?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Dr. Kadowaki shook her head. "No. He'll be awaking within the day...I suggest that you go and get his files and anything important to him."

Quistis nodded her head and Dr. Kadowaki immediately took the papers from his hands and continued walking out of the infirmary. She turned her heel to leave, but immediately felt Irvine's arm grab her arm. She turned and looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion, fear, passion, and love all at once. "I'll go with you..."

She pulled her arm away slowly, their hands barely meeting. Irvine looked around and gently bent down to her face. She backed away slightly. "What are you doing?"

"One hundred and twentith time I'm asking you...go out with me."

"Irvine..."

She rolled her eyes and immediately left for the records room. Irvine stayed behind, his eyes lingering towards Squall. He was moving slightly in his bed, as if he forgot how to wake up. Irvine chuckled. "Lucky bastard," he mumbled.

"Who's a lucky bastard!" Irvine turned his head to see Selphie and Zell staring at him. Selphie had a basketful of muffins and Zell simply carried some orange juice.

"No one...what's all this?" he asked.

"We want Squall to be comfie when he wakes up!" Selphie smiled and walked into the room, the two boys trailing behind. Selphie placed the muffins onto the table and bent over to look at Squall's face. Zell sat down, placing the orange juice and cups onto the ground. He stretched out, smiling at Irvine. He mouthed, "I saw Quistis leave looking very different."

Irvine raised his finger to his mouth as Selphie started to talk to Squall. "Come on you guys! Talk to him!"

"Selphie, its not like he's in a coma...he's just remembering things," Zell pointed out.

Selphie stuck her tongue out at him and then stopped as she heard Squall's voice, "Like how the moment I open my eyes...I'm going to see muffins in front of me..."

Selphie giggled loudly and looked down at Squall, his eyes opening up and staring directly at the muffins. "How ya feeling?" she asked, bending down so her face was at bed level.

"...tired."

Selphie turned to Irvine and smiled. "Go get her!" she said.

Irvine simply shrugged and walked out of the room to look for Quistis.

Squall gave her a confused look but merely shrugged it off. "So you remember us?" Zell asked.

"Yea...why?"

Selphie grinned. "Cause...you got stung by this queen bug of some sort on a mission. The poison from the sting attacks a piece of your memory."

"Oh."

"You remember how to use a gunblade?" Zell asked again.

"...considering I'm craving to right now, yes. I remember all of you, I remember the Sorceress War...I remember Laguna and Ellone and Time Compression."

As Selphie and Zell listed the important things, Irvine opened the records room door. "Let me help," he said. He walked over to her, picking up some of the files. She nodded her head and picked up the other half. "He's awake."

"He is?" she said, hope overcoming her body.

"Yea. Just woke up thanks to Selphie."

She shifted the files around in her grasp and immediately left the room. She had gotten what she needed and more. She walked briskly towards the Infirmary, rushing past the students. She could hear Irvine's boots clicking behind her as she turned down the hallway and walked straight through the automatic doors. She stopped, staring directly into the window. She shifted the documents and Irvine walked past her, grunting softly. Selphie stood up, her hands flying rapidly at the folders, handing Squall each one carefully. She could hear them talking.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Reports! Everything you've ever done, everything about your life, everything about you!" she exclaimed. She turned her head, smiling at Quistis. Quistis breathed in and took a slight step forward, before she heard Squall's voice.

"Where's Rinoa?" he asked, slightly confused. Quistis stopped dead in her tracks. Maybe he didn't remember the previous mission. "I remember seeing her in Esthar for some sort of mission..."

Quistis breathed in as Selphie looked through the first half of reports that Irvine had brought in. Quistis had the recent missions in her arms. She took another step, then another, and finally walked through the doors, placing the files carefully down at the foot of his bed. His gray eyes looked up, meeting with her own sapphire eyes. Selphie smiled, seeing the pure love in Quistis' eyes as she looked at him. "Hello, Squall."

He blinked. There was no emotion behind his eyes. "I'm sorry...do...I know you?" Selphie's eyes flashed open, fear overcoming her face. "...you don't look familiar," he announced. Quistis' heart began to race, faster and faster.

"No," she said softly. "No...you don't know me." With those words, she turned around and left, moving quickly. Squall sat up some, grasping the folders she had dropped off in his hands. He stared at the now empty door, blinking.

"Squall," Selphie's soft voice rung out the silence in his mind. "That's Quistis..."

"Who?"

Zell frowned. "Quistis...we...all grew up in the orphanage together?"

"She was your instructor...our friend..." He shook his head. Selphie bit her lip and looked at Irvine. "Squall." He looked up at her. "She's your girlfriend."

Zell began to laugh. "No she's not, Selphie! Where did you get that idea?"

"My girlfriend? If she was my girlfriend...then why did she leave like that?" he asked, now curious.

"She's hurt that you don't remember her!"

"Selphie, stop...I swear, sometimes Selphie...you let your daydreams get to you," Zell laughed out.

Selphie looked pleadingly at Irvine. He was the only other person that knew of Squall and Quistis' secret relationship. "Irvine! Tell him!"

"Tell me what?" Squall announced, now even more confused.

Irvine sighed, grasping his head. "Selph...you know that they never dated," he said abruptly. Selphie blinked, pain and hate filling her eyes. "They both would have gotten fired for it..."

Squall nodded his head in agreement. "Cause I'm a commader...and she's just an instructor."

Selphie blinked, nodding her head dimwittedly. "...yea..."

Irvine walked out of the door as Zell began to talk to Squall. Selphie glared at him, tears ready to fall out of her eyes at any second. Irvine walked coolly and calmly towards the headmaster's office.

In her dorm, Quistis sat, leaning against her bed. Tears magestically flew out of her eyes, but there were no sobs coming from her mouth.

**A/N**: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! (hides)


	18. Chapter Eighteen

A/N: Well...here's chapter 18. Hehehe...Also, new contest is up! The same rules apply to CONTEST : RARE as it did for CONTEST : LOVE. PLEASE NOTE: the contest stories are one shots. If you want me to continue them...then I need reviews. Simply put as that. Umm...CONTEST : RARE is basically the 'rare' couples' of FF8. Vote for your favorite. Each chapter of ANY STORY counts as a vote, as does e-mailing. You can only e-mail once and review each chapter of each story ONCE. Here are the couples: Squall/Fuujin, Squall/Xu, Irvine/Xu, Zell/Fuujin, Seifer/Xu, Quistis/Nida, Quistis/Raijen (my personal fave.), Selphie/Nida, Rinoa/Nida

Chapter 18

Quistis curled her legs up to her chest, the tears still falling down. She breathed in and looked around. Sure enough, there was his ring on the chain he had given her on her nightstand table. She reached for it, her arm stretching out, but she couldn't reach it. She let out a sigh. "Just what my life has always been...I never could get the stuff I wanted..."

She sighed and let her arm drop. She coiled her arm back to her, hugging herself tightly. There was a soft 'ding' sound and the speakers went off. "Quistis Trepe, please report to the Headmaster's office."

She sighed again. "No," she mumbled out. She was sick of running around doing stupid little things. She stayed curled up in a tight ball, letting the minutes pass on by. She rested her head on her knees, staring at nothing.

The same noise was made and Nida's voice was heard this time. "Quistis Trepe, please report to the Headmaster's office, immediately."

She shook her head, despite the fact that no one was around. "Why the hell should I?" she whispered out.

ooooo

Squall listened to the page and blinked, staring at a depressed Selphie and a confused Zell. "Quistis...that was the girl that came in here right?" he asked them.

Selphie nodded her head, looking helplessly at Squall. "You really don't remember her? I mean...this isn't some sick joke, right?"

Squall sighed and held his head. "I have a vague memory of her as my instructor...but, nothing else..."

Zell shrugged and looked at Squall. "We all grew up in the orphanage...you don't remember her then?" he asked. Squall shook his head. "We all defeated Ultimecia."

"No...I remember Seifer, and how he turned into the Sorceress' knight...I remember Rinoa becoming a Sorceress, I remember Trabia being bombed, I remember Balamb almost being bombed, I remember the Galbadia Garden attacking us, I remember everything...but...Quistis," he said with an almost uncertainty, "doesn't come into any of those parts."

Selphie sighed and reached for his files, browsing through them. She pulled out his first mission, the field exam. "Read this."

"Quistis Trepe! Report to the Headmaster's office, immediately!" Nida's voice rung out. Selphie looked worriedly towards the speakers, her heart breaking apart, trying to understand how Quistis feels.

ooooo

"Sir," Irvine said.

"Where is she?" Cid was angry at the fact that she was late. She was always on time...ALWAYS. He knew that even if she was in the bathroom taking a shower, she'd stop and come running.

"...she must be hurt to find out that Squall doesn't remember her."

Nida looked worriedly at Cid. He was pacing...and when Cid paced, he was angry. "And she ignores orders because of that? No, Irvine...she's not like that."

Cid looked over at Nida, nodding his head. Nida pressed the small blue button, speaking once again. "Quistis, please...come to the Headmaster's office!"

He released the button and looked at Irvine. Selphie had consoled in Nida everything about the three of them. Irvine sighed and looked down at the ground. "Want me to go and get her?"

Cid stood there, sighing softly.

ooooo

Quistis was now standing up, looking in the mirror at herself. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks stained with tears. He didn't remember her...She inhaled and sighed. "He doesn't remember me," she announced to the mirror. She looked in it, seeing the tears streaking down her eyes. A soft buzzer caused her to turn and look outside the bathroom door. She raised the wet washcloth to her face, wiping her face gently.

The buzzer rang again as she wiped off her face one last time, the puffiness dropping, the redness clearing, and the stained cheeks gone. She raised a dry washcloth to her face, getting rid of the small droplets of water. The buzzer rang again.

She turned her head, screaming now, "FUCK OFF!"

The buzzer rang again.

"For the love of..." She walked over to the door, pressing the button to open it. She stared at Irvine who only frowned at her. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Nida has been paging you."

She spun around, her blonde hair fanning out. He noticed that it was down then. "Why should I go?"

"Cause...Cid's concerned about it."

She let out a small grunt and waved her hand. "Well, tell him that I'm fine."

Irvine frowned and pressed the button to close the door. "No, your not." She walked in the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

The 'ding' sound was made again. Instead of Nida's voice, it was Cid's own voice. "QUISTIS LYNN TREPE! GET TO MY OFFICE NOW!"

Quistis opened the door and stared at the speaker in her room. Irvine looked over at her and frowned. "Will you come with me?"

"...whatever."

ooooo

Squall stood up, walking around. He grabbed a muffin and looked at Selphie, her face still hung down. She had refused to even look at him. Zell was babbling about nothing important. Then the page went off. It was her name, again. "Cid sounds angry," he announced to them.

Selphie sniffled softly and both of the boys turned and looked at her. "Well, Quistis is always on time..."

Squall nodded his head, taking a bite out of the muffin and swallowing after chewing. "...so, where is Rinoa again? I would like to see her..."

ooooo

Quistis stormed through the crowd of people, her blonde hair floating towards Irvine as he followed her close behind. The students looked at her, noting that she did look different. Quistis walked to the elevator, pressing the button. Irvine walked behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She twitched and turned to face him, her sapphire eyes a cobalt blue now. Irvine slowly moved his hand away and shook his head. The elevator reached the third floor and Quistis stepped off and directly into the chest of Cid. "Just what exactly took you so long?" he asked.

She backed away, backing into Irvine. She hung her head, her blonde hair covering her face. "I'm sorry."

He sighed and shook his head, shaking a steady finger at her. "Now, you listen to me, Quistis...You're stressing yourself out. Irvine came to me and told me that Squall seems to have forgotten you." She blinked, not even bothering to stare at the Headmaster. "I know you must be very upset, considering he is a childhood friend. So, I am sending you and Irvine on a little vacation."

Her face shot up. "Irvine? Why Irvine?" she asked. Irvine rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall.

Cid began to walk away. Nida watched intently from the doors to the office. "He was concerned about your well-being."

She hung her head again, hearing the door slam shut. She turned and looked at Irvine, glaring intensely at him. He glared right back at her and entered the elevator, pulling her in with him. "You're not gonna mope around the Garden until Squall remembers you. It's just to relax you, get your mind off of him. Cid is gonna tell Selphie and Zell to get him to remember you, ok?"

Her glare softened. "Why are you doing this?"

He sighed and grasped his hat, pulling it off and rubbing his head with his other hand. "Because I like you, a lot!" He placed his hat back on. "We leave in two days...pack for a month."

"A month?" she exclaimed. The doors opened and Irvine left the elevator. "Where?"

He turned around, smiling. "Winhill."

ooooo

The sound of a twig snapping, perked the sniper's ears. He turned in the direction of the sound, raising his finger to his mouth. "Sh!"

"Sorry!" the male voice responded. He walked into the light, his spikey blonde hair pointing up into the air. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I got a favor to ask you," Irvine replied.

Zell blinked. "No more fireworks...I almost got in so much trouble last time!"

"No. What I need you to do is keep a huge secret and do something very important for me..."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, first...keep Squall away from Rinoa, ok?" Zell nodded his head. "Second...you tell NO ONE that Quistis and I are going to Shumi Village."

"But...Cid told us it was Winhill."

"I decided to change it. It got okayed by Cid...and I told him I want to keep it a secret so no one bothers Quistis. You're gonna be driving the Ragnarok there so tell NO ONE, ok?"

"Sure sure...Hey," Zell said, "are you going to get her to finally go out with you?" he asked, curious of his friends' happiness.

Irvine chuckled lightly. "Gonna try!"


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**A/N**: Well, this is the next to last chapter. I know some of you are...disappointed in me, to say the least...about the last couple of chapters. I would like to make this clear: in the summary, it says SquallQuistisIrvine. I have tried to been fair about switching it from Quirvine to Quall and vise versa. I am a huge fan of both of those couples and I hate deciding on which way to end it, since I want to see the girl end up with both. But that can't happen. If you have read the story and picked up the tiny bit of details I have sprawled out here and there about how this is going to end, then congratulations! Cookies for you! Other than that, please...have patience until I finish this story before you start throwing tomatoes at me.

We clear? Oh, and I want to thank EVERYONE who has reviewed so far!

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

She sighed as she watched Irvine set her three bags down onto the bed. "Irvine, I can do this myself..."

He merely shrugged and walked back outside where a Moomba was holding two other bags for him. "Yea. I know you can. But you're supposed to be relaxing."

She rolled her eyes and walked over to her suitcases, examining each one. She opened one, noting that the clothes were all packed. "I still wish you would've told me sooner that it got transferred to Shumi Village..."

He shrugged his shoulders again, patting the Moomba on the head and handing him a small treat. The Moomba purred loudly and ran away, its treat in its mouth. "It was kind of last minute...Squall wanted to go to Winhill..."

She turned and looked at him, her eyes saddening greatly. "Please...don't mention his name..."

"And that is why we got transferred to Winhill." He walked over to her, placing a delicate hand on her shoulder. She quickly walked into her room, closing the door and leaned gently on it. Irvine sighed and spun around to his own room. He turned back around, looking at the ground and back at her door. "I'll make dinner, ok?"

Quistis, on the other side of the door, blinked. She shook her head and walked over to her opened suitcase, slowly moving one shirt and then another, pulling out the chain with his ring on it. "Squall..."

**ooooo**

Squall sighed and looked around the room. Pink. He had come to realize that he detested the color pink. The door opened, a security guard stepping in first, followed by Rinoa. She smiled politely at the security guard. "Thanks, Jim!" she called out. The security guard smiled back and patted her on her shoulder. She turned back to Squall, placing a petite hand on her waist.

"What's with that?" Squall immediately asked.

"Well...I am on house arrest seeing as how Laguna decided not to press charges..." She immediately pointed to her ankle, a large box hanging from a chain.

"House arrest?" he asked, his voice a bit confused.

She laughed a nervous laugh. "Yea..."

"For what?"

She blinked, her brown eyes sparkling with interest. "You...don't remember?"

"I'm sorry, Rin...I don't remember."

She blinked again, her heart pounding. "Oh...well, I...tried to get attention from you and I did something stupid." Now he blinked. "I sent out a fake assassin note to your father. It just happened a month ago, about. It was you, Irvine, and Quistis."

"Everyone keeps bringing up Quistis. Who is she?"

Rinoa took a step back. "Who is she? She was your instructor!" He rolled his eyes. "Ok, listen...tell me everything that happened and why you forget Quistis."

**ooooo**

Zell looked around, his face worried. "Selphie!" he called out as he saw the girl in the yellow dress hugging Nida. She turned and looked at him, smiling brightly. "Hey...where's Squall?"

"Well, if you stayed away from that hotdog line, then you would know!" she said while sticking out her tongue. Nida smiled and shook his head.

"No, seriously...where is he?" he asked.

Selphie sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's with Rinoa."

"No! Why did you let him go!" Zell shouted. He immediately ran in the other direction.

**ooooo**

Irvine smiled as he placed the plate of spaghetti in front of her. "I know its not much but...didn't really get the chance to do much food shopping before we left," he said in a friendly voice.

She nodded her head, poking at the food. She lifted some up to her mouth, eating the spaghetti. Despite the fact it was only spaghetti, it did taste rather good. She heard Irvine slurp, and her eyes lifted up, seeing a large red line from his nose to his chin. She smiled, holding a hand up to her face. He gave her the same goofy grin he had used on every other girl.

Irvine's head turned as the phone began to rang. Quistis stood up to pick it up, but Irvine immediately held her shoulder's down. "I got it."

She shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat her dinner. Irvine picked up the phone on the fourth ring. "Irvine! Selphie took Squall to Rinoa!" It was Zell's voice on the other end.

"Oh, hey Zell. You don't say?"

"Well...yea I do say! Dude...what do you want me to do?"

"Um...it's a little late to do anything," Irvine responded with a touch of bitterness.

"Well, what's the big deal about him going to Rinoa's anyway?" Zell asked.

"Nothing...just his own well-being. Gotta go. Later dude."

He immediately hung up the phone and walked back and sat down. Quistis blinked and stared at him. "What did Zell want?" she asked, mild curiousity rising in her.

He smiled and shook his head. "Nothing important."

**ooooo**

"And that's when I walked in."

"After I kissed her."

"Yea..."

Squall grabbed at his hair, leaning back in the chair he sat on. "So...I do like Quistis then?"

Rinoa fidgeted with her hands and looked at him, her eyes slowly meeting with his own. "Listen...go back to Garden, go back to your dorm, and sit there...staring at a picture of her."

Squall raised an eyebrow at her. "Why are you being so helpful?" he decided to ask.

She smiled and stood up, stretching. "Well! Considering that I did send a threat to your father, I guess you can say I'm trying to make up for it!" Squall nodded his head, standing up as well. He slowly pulled her into a hug, kissing her on the cheek softly. She smiled, her brown eyes twinkling with delight.

"Thanks for being honest with me..."

She laughed and gently waved her hand at him. "Think nothing of it!"

**ooooo**

Quistis picked up the phone, dialing a number quickly. It rang once, and immediately the phone was picked up. "This is Selphie! Speak!"

"Hey Selphie!" Quistis said, smiling happily. It had been a week without any of them, and she was feeling depressed and alone. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she responded. "So, what's up?"

"I have a favor to ask you. Can...you bring me some feminine supplies?"

Selphie laughed, loudly. "Why not go to the store there?" she asked.

"Well...I would, if they sold any here."

Selphie blinked, a little confused. "Oh. Sure. I'll be there in a few hours, ok?"

"Sure...thanks Selphie!"

"No problem."

"How's Squall doing?" She decided to get it done and over with.

Selphie was silent for a bit. "Better...although...he's been holed up in his room all week. He said he wanted to be left alone to think. He just got done seeing Rinoa the other day."

"I gotta go," Quistis said, her voice barely more than a hoarse whisper and she immediately hung up the phone. Her mind started to scream at her. Left alone to think...and he had just got done seeing Rinoa. He wanted nothing to do with her.

Irvine walked into the hut and smiled brightly at Quistis. "Got supplies!"

**ooooo**

The metal door buzzed, and Squall walked out, his eyes bright blue. He shoved something in his pocket and he immediately ran down the dorm hall. He pounded on one door, memories flooding his head. There was no answer so he decided to run to the quad. Knowing Selphie, she was probably planning another dance or concert. He skidded to a halt, seeing Selphie standing there, waving her smal larms around as Nida hung from the rafters hanging up decorations. "SELPHIE!" he called out, his face red from the lack of air.

Selphie spun around, eyeing Squall. She let him run to her and let him lift her into a hug. "What has gotten into you!" she asked after pushing him away and brushing off her skirt.

"I love her! I do love her! I remember everything now! I am dating Quistis!"

* * *

**A/N**: I know...short, tons of dialogue, makes no sense...ah...wait until the next chapter! The fun begi...actually, the fun ends next chapter...but...yea, here's a **spoiler**!

**_SPOILER ALERT!  
SPOILER ALERT!  
SPOILER ALERT!_**

If you don't want to read a little bit of what's going to happen in the next chapter, then don't read this!

Hope you're ready...

* * *

His heart began to throb as he held her closer to her, her blonde hair tumbling in his own hands. Her voice was shakey as she began to mumble incoherently. "Just relax," he said, stroking her hair. "I'm not going anywhere." She stopped mumbling, her face inches away from his.

"Kiss me..." It wasn't a request, or a question...it was a demand. And he did so. He kissed her, right there. His lips gently danced with hers.

* * *

Ciao bella, peeps! Be prepared for a LENGTHY last chapter!

And by lengthy...I mean pages of text...this won't be updated tomorrow, I can tell you that much. So, keep a look out for THE LAST CHAPTER OF OBLIVIOUS!


	20. Chapter Twenty

A/N: Here ya go! The End!

Chapter Twenty

Quistis smiled and walked casually to the chair. She'd be seeing Selphie in a few hours...perhaps she could even get Selphie to stay? She glanced over at Irvine who bounced into the kitchen, humming some tune to himself. Quistis pulled her legs up, hugging her legs tightly. So...he was going to go to Rinoa? She glanced over at Irvine, who had now turned on the CD player in the kitchen, singing along with the song, placing hte groceries away. She cocked her head one way, her blonde hair in a ponytail swinging down next to her. Could she even like Irvine more than a friend? She blinked as Irvine turned to look at her, laughing. "What's so funny?" she asked, suddenly out of her thoughtful state.

"You. Why are you watching me? Am I that great of a singer that you are mesmerized by it?" he asked, flinging back his short ponytail.

She rolled her eyes, and said, "If you're squawking is the best you can sing...then no."

He stuck his tongue out at her, continuing with the song and placing the groceries away. She stood up, walking over to help him. He immediately ran to the entrance of the kitchen, placing both hands against the walls, preventing her from passing. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

She let out a huff of air. "I happen to be a bit hungry. I was going to grab a bite to eat," she barked at him.

"No. Stay out of the ktichen."

"EXCUSE ME?" she said, flinging her hand to her chest. "Stay OUT of the kitchen? Am I that bad of a cook?"

Irvine shook his head, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. "No, you're a wonderful cook. I...just...want to impress you is all."

She rolled her eyes, walking away from the kitchen and into her room. Irvine sighed, staring as the door slammed shut. Every single day she ended up in that room, and she spent the day crying her eyes out over _him_.

**ooooo**

Squall marched onto the Ragnarok, sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "Alright. Let's go."

Selphie spun around in the chair, stopping at the wheel and smiled brightly. "I can't believe you're going to do it, Squall!"

"What choice do I have?" he said, no fear and no sadness in his voice. He was truly happy to be able to hold her, hug her, comfort her, kiss her, and everything he couldn't do for that week and the weeks before.

Selphie kept on smiling, starting the Ragnarok up and patting the supplies next to her. "And I'm sure she'll be happy to see these, too!" Squall rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair. "Ok! Away we go to Winhill!"

**ooooo**

Quistis glanced at the clock as Irvine continued to make their food. "Where is she?" she muttered under her breath. Irvine turned his head to look at her, but she merely shook her head. It had already been four hours since she had called Selphie. She glanced downwards. She only had enough feminine products to last her until tonight, tomorrow if 'it' decided to play fair.

She let out a huff of air, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Quistis?" Irvine asked. She turned and looked at Irvine immediately. "Everything ok?" he asked, concerned written all over his face.

"Oh...yea. Just...hungry," she said. Obviously it was a lie, and Irvine knew this. He nodded his head and continued to cook the meal he was creating.

**ooooo**

Selphie landed the ship, grabbing the bag and smiled right at Squall. "Go get your woman!" she cheered on as Squall stood up. He rushed off the Ragnarok, jumping down the steps and then jumping down off of the bridge. He landed with a soft thud on the ground and he looked around, hoping to find the beauty. He walked swiftly, his mind pounding. He walked first to the hotel. He entered, asked the receptionist if they had seen this woman, the woman from the picture he had stared at for one week. A simple no.

He walked over to the bar. He walked to the bartender, showing the same picture. Again, a simple no.

He frowned and walked over to the market. Again, a no.

No, not at the farm.

Not at the flower lady's home.

Not there.

Not anywhere.

Selphie looked as he walked over to her, his face red with anger and hatred. "Where is she?" she asked, her hopeful voice failing.

"She's not here."

**ooooo**

As they reached the Garden, Squall walked straight to Cid's office. He past Zell and Nida, both of them looking at him with intrigue. He entered the elevator, after pushing an Instructor out of his way, and ended up on the third floor. He walked past Xu, who stood up, blinking at him. He walked straight up to the desk, a hard fist slamming down. "Where's Quistis," he demanded.

Cid blinked from his paper that he was signing, stared at the fist, then stared into the eyes of the lion. "Classified information."

"Irvine told everyone they went to Winhill. Care to explain?"

Cid shook his head. "I'm sorry Squall, it's classified information. The only people who know, and who are going to know, are myself, Irvine, Quistis, and the Ragnarok driver."

"Selphie," he mumbled out through gritted teeth.

"No. Selphie was unavailable that day." Squall blinked. "I'm sorry, Squall, but all that information is disclosed and classified. Now, if you don't mind, please let me return to my work."

Squall half saluted, and turned to leave. He walked swiftly out of the office and back into the elevator. After a few minutes, he was sitting in the cafeteria. Selphie walked over to him, her hand wrapped in Nida's. "Did he tell you?"

"No. It's classified. When they left, who was driving?"

"Zell."

**ooooo**

Quistis sat patiently as Irvine brought out the meal. He smiled brightly, placing a bowl of salad on the table, followed by a chicken with rice dish on the middle. Quistis bent over some, sniffing the chicken. "Is that a lemon sauce?" she asked, the scent filling her nose.

He smiled brightly, clapping his hands. "Yea! Wow, I'm so happy that you noticed it!" She smiled politely as he left the dining area and walked into the kitchen, grabbing two wine glasses and a bottle of wine. Within the time that has past, Quistis noticed that Irvine rather enjoyed cooking. He set the two glasses down, and grabbed the wine opener, slowly pulling out the cork. There was a loud 'pop' and then a soft fizz noise. "You don't mind white wine, right? I mean...I have red wine in the kitchen...just, you're supposed to drink white wine with chicken and seafood."

"Seafood?" she asked as she slowly adjusted the napkin on her lap. He nodded his head, a bright smile raising to his lips. "What seafood?"

"Oh, that's right!" he said. He quickly turned around, placing the bottle down on the table. She reached for the wine and grabbed the two glasses, slowly pouring the wine in. Irvine turned around, smiling as he walked back to the table and set the seafood dish on the table. Quistis turned her head and looked at it. Mussels, in a white wine sauce. "I remember when we were in Fisherman's Horizon that one time...you kept commenting about how good the mussels were."

"Irvine, that's...sweet," she said, her heart pounding softly. She shook her head and slowly reached for the spoon. She grabbed Irvine's plate, just as he was reaching for it, and their hands touched. He immediately pulled his away and smiled.

**ooooo**

Squall walked up down the hall. He seemed to be doing that...a lot. He turned one corner and immediately walked into the library. He was no where else to be found. The doors opened and Squall walked through, seeing Zell turn towards him. "Hey Squall," he whispered. The girl behind the desk immediately shushed him.

Squall walked over to Zell, his face starting to turn red with anger. "Where's Quistis?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh! You remember her?" Zell said, smiling happily.

"Shh!" the librarian said again.

Squall rolled his eyes, bringing his voice to a soft whisper. "Yea, I do...where is she?"

"On vacation with Irvine. He's trying to get her to go out with him."

Squall's eyes flared. "WHERE is she!"

"I say! Will you two pipe down?" the librarian finally said.

Squall spun around, glaring directly at her. "Why don't you mind your own business!" He spun back to Zell, who leaned against the bookcase.

"I can't tell you! I was sworn to secrecy!"

Squall glared at Zell, immediately turning to leave. He had to find Selphie. Selphie could get anything out of Zell.

**ooooo**

Quistis looked up at the clock. Selphie still wasn't there, and she doubted that she would come, especially this late. They had finished their meal, which was surprisingly quite delicious. She finished the last of her wine, and smiled politely to Irvine. "That was delicious," she remarked.

He smiled brightly and stood up, refilling her wine glass. She watched as the soft golden colored drink slip into her cup, small bubbles popping here and there. "Have room for dessert?"

"You made dessert, too?" she asked, surprise filling her mind. "Why are you doing this?"

He smiled as he turned back into the kitchen, digging through the freezer. "Doing what?" he asked as he pulled out a small box. "Being nice to you? Quistis, how many times do I have to tell you? I like you. I like you a lot."

She turned her head to the side, her eyes looking back at the clock. "Why though? I've been nothing but mean to you."

"No, you haven't. You're the only girl who doesn't push me around and beat me up for no reason. You're the one person who can understand who I really am. You think I show this side to everyone?" She let out a small laugh. "No. Because then they'd think I was being stupid and gay."

"Who cares what they think, Irvine? Just be yourself..."

**ooooo**

Squall leaned against the wall as Selphie walked down the hall. Zell was walking towards her and she immediately stopped right in front of him. "Hey Zell, I need to know where Quistis is at."

"Not you too...listen, I can't tell. Irvine made me promise not to tell a soul."

"But its important!" Selphie cried out, stomping her foot. Squall wanted to chuckle, knowing that Zell would be rolling his eyes.

"Of course it's important. But it has to wait for another two and a half weeks." He went to move, but Selphie slipped to stand in front of him again. "Let me pass."

"No, it's really important!" She quickly thought of a lie. "I have to drop off something to Quistis." So it wasn't really a lie.

"So give it to me. I'll drop it off.

Quickly, she thought of a cover. "It's um...well, personal products."

"...personal products?" Zell asked, confused.

"Yea...you know...tamp..."

"OK! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Zell quickly raised his hands to his ears, covering them. Selphie rolled her eyes. "Fine, she's in Shumi Village. Don't they sell them there?"

Selphie turned to leave. "Apparently not!"

And with that, she turned the corner, running down the hall to catch up to Squall. She smiled brightly as they both darted towards the Ragnarok.

Within three hours, Selphie and Squall landed in front of Shumi Village. They both stood outside, the snow falling delicately against their bodies. "Squall?" He turned to look at her. "You want me to go in with you?"

"No. I'm going to do this myself."

**ooooo**

Irvine knelt in front of Quistis. She blinked, giving him an odd look. "I am myself. I just...I just can't be myself around anyone but you, Quistis."

"Irvine, in all honesty, who cares if you're yourself or act like a jackass? If you want to go around with a mask on your face all day, then please do so, if that's what you're comfortable with."

"I'm comfortable with you." She sighed as he neared her lap, placing his head down. Her hand instincly went to rub his face. "Why won't you date me, Quistis?"

She stood up, and began to walk towards the door. Squall has forgotten her, and more than likely was back with Rinoa. She sighed and leaned against the door frame. "I'm going for a walk."

"Will you tell me your answer then?" he asked, his voice sounding so sad.

"...yes, I'll tell you my answer then."

She went to open the door, but immediately felt Irvine's hand over top of hers. She sighed and removed her hand, allowing him to open the door. She walked out, her skirt flapping as the soft breeze blew. She walked out of the doorway, with Irvine following. She walked to the end of the wooden pathway, Irvine still following behind her. The moment she stepped off of the walkway, she heard her name being called out.

"Quistis!" She looked up from the ground, her eyes searching.

"Who the hell is that?" Irvine asked, suddenly getting defensive.

"Quistis!" the voice called out. She blinked. She knew that voice.

She walked past the bushes that had blocked their temporary home and looked around. There, she saw him, his fur collar brushing against his cheek. He turned in the direction of her, his face filled with worry. He saw her standing there, with Irvine right behind her. He immediately began to run in her direction. Quistis' heart was pounding. Perhaps he was just going to tell her that he's going back out with Rinoa.

"Quistis! I found you!" He pulled her into a tight hug, lifting her up and swinging her around. Jealousy flashed in Irvine's eyes as he set Quistis down. "I...I'm so sorry, Quistis."

"Squall?" she asked, her voice shakey. "You...remember me?"

He pulled her into another hug, gently kissing her cheek. "Yes...I do remember you..."

He suddenly felt Irvine's hand pull him away. Squall spun around, anger flashing in front of his face. "How the hell did you find out that we were here? It was confidential!" he exclaimed.

"Confidential?" Quistis asked. "You said that it was a change of plans..."

"Yea, we went to Winhill first, and no one saw you there."

"We?" he exclaimed, getting angrier.

"Selphie and I! We had to lie to Zell in order to find out where you guys were!" Squall reached for Quistis' hand, who immediately took his.

Irvine glared at both of them. He immediately reached for Quistis' other hand, pulling her gently towards him. "Listen, Squall...you're not supposed to be here!"

"I don't care. I want to be with Quistis."

"Well so do I!"

Quistis pulled her hands away from both of them, shaking her head. "Hey...knock this off! Why don't you two go inside and discuss like normal human beings?" she said, raising a hand to her side. She glared at both of them while they glared at each other. "I'll come back in a few hours..."

She spun her heel and walked down the street, Irvine immediately reached for her, pulling her back. "Quistis, it's going to be dark soon..."

Squall immediately pushed Irvine away. "Don't touch her!"

**ooooo**

Selphie stood at the entrance of Shumi Village. She looked around, smiling at a Moomba. "Hey! It's a Moomba! I haven't seen you guys in a while!"

The Moomba turned and looked at Selphie, his eyes going wide with fright. He immediately darted in the other direction.

"Hey! I won't hug you as tightly as before!" she said as she began to chase the Moomba.

**ooooo**

Quistis sighed, staring at Squall. She turned her head back towards Irvine, frowning slightly. "Irvine...you know that we were dating..."

Squall blinked, staring at Quistis. "Were?"

"Squall..." she sighed out, her sapphire eyes filled with sadness. He nodded his head, allowing her to continue.

"But he wasn't there for you when you were bawling your eyes out! He left you once before, and then he did it again! What makes you believe that its not going to happen again?"

Quistis looked from Squall to Irvine, her head pounding hard against her skull. She had no clue what to do. She slowly inched her way to Squall, her eyes looking pleadingly at Irvine. "I'm sorry, Irvine...I..."

He shook his head, sadness filling his dark eyes. "No...don't even say it. I don't want to hear it." He turned to leave, his cinnamon hair bouncing as he walked. She knew that he was crying and she immediately went to console him, but Squall pulled her arm back, holding her tightly to him.

His heart began to throb as he held her closer to her, her blonde hair tumbling in his own hands. Her voice was shakey as she began to mumble incoherently. "Just relax," he said, stroking her hair. "I'm not going anywhere." She stopped mumbling, her face inches away from his.

"Kiss me..." It wasn't a request, or a question...it was a demand. And he did so. He kissed her, right there. His lips gently danced with hers. It had been ages since they kissed. He broke away from it, holding her tightly to his chest.

"You want to leave?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded her head, holding onto his hand tightly. "You want me to go in and get your stuff?"

"You promise not to fight?" she whispered, tears building up in her eyes.

"I promise not to break his face in, yes. Listen...Selphie should be waiting at the entrance." With that, he let her go, immediately walking into the hut. He opened the door, and saw Irvine sitting on the couch. Irvine looked up at him, his cowboy hat taken off, and his cinnamon hair out of its ponytail.

"You just had to remember her..." he grolwed out.

Squall shook his head, walking directly into what he thought was Quistis' room. He pulled out the three suitcases, carefully filling in each one what he thought was hers. He heard Irvine moving around in the dining room. After a few moments, Squall picked up the three suitcases and walked out. "Next time you pull a stunt like this Irvine, be careful."

Irvine's hand immediately flew up, flipping Squall off. Squall cracked his neck, slowly taking his mind off of hurting Irvine. "Fuck you, Squall...you always get everything. All the glory, all the attention, everything..."

Squall shook his head and walked out of the hut. He looked at Quistis nearing him and he gave her a soft smile. She grabbed one of the suitcases out of his hand and she smiled softly back at him. "What about Cid?"

Squall sighed. "We'll deal with it...if I have to, I'll quit being a commander."

"No. I don't want you to do that. I'll...quit being an instructor."

"Quistis...let's just go home, enjoy the three hour ride together, and deal with it when we have to." Squall smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I'm not losing you again, and I'm not fighting with you again." He walked with her towards the entrance, and frowned. "Now, where's Selphie?"

"MOOOOOOOOOOMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Quistis and Squall both turned their heads to the left, seeing Selphie chase a group of Moombas, all of whom tried to avoid her like the plague. Quistis smiled, raising her free hand to her forehead while Squall merely shook his head.

THE END

A/N: Ok, that's not how I wanted to end it, despite the fact that it is cute and adorable and I completely see Selphie doing that. The way how I wanted to end it basically took an additional seven to nine pages. Yea, I didn't really feel like having to type that out, especially since this chapter is long enough. I MIGHT (very big might) write an epilogue chapter. Perhaps after I've started the two new stories in my head and continued the other two stories that I need to finish. So yea...The real ending is actually very sweet and romantic.

There's a couple people I want to thank.

Cailin Skylark: My very first reviewer for this story! Heh heh...and to think that was a year and a half ago... --  
frost: You've stayed through and reviewed ever since the first chapter! I ALWAYS look forward to your reviews now.  
Kentai: You joined in late, but that's no big deal! You're another reviewer that I always look forward to  
xpunky-galx: Thanks for the reviews  
Ezri-Candy:sniff: I thought I lost you at one point!  
Divine Dark Oblivion: I really enjoyed having such an avid Quall fan review LOL  
GothicAngelEyeS: Another avid Quall fan, hehe! We shall band together and make Quall's take over the world!  
diddly day: A late joiner, but still...I loved your reviews Moulin Rouge forever! BWAAHAHAHA...Oo...that gives me an idea...  
Arienneye: LOL You missed a lot of updates sometimes from one review to the next - LOL  
And to all my other reviewers that read, stuck by this, and reviewed!

I have three favorite scenes.

In Chapter Three: Quistis and Irvine are sitting next to each other at the dining hall. There's a small tiff between Rinoa and the Priestesses so, Irvine rubs Quistis' back and starts whispering in her ear. Quistis' line: **"Yea, I kn...get your tongue out of my ear..."**

In Chapter Nine: Squall gets a cramp in his leg, like father like son, after KISSING Quistis. Line: **"I'm sorry. I...shouldn't have done that," he whispered out, moving his once silky hair entwined hair to his neck. He slowly felt a soft cramp in his left leg. _What the...? Oh...oh no,_ he thought. His face dropped.**

**Quistis turned to look at him and noticed his cramped leg. The lips that had touched the lips of the man she always wanted started to curl up into a smile. "Don't tell me..."**

**"Don't you start!" he immediately fired back at her. She pulled her lips into her mouth, preventing her from laughing. "Don't you dare laugh, Quistis..."**

**She couldn't hold it in. The laugh blew out of her mouth. Squall had never seen her laugh so hard ever. She was polite, poised, proper. She hid her mouth as she silently chuckled. He rolled his eyes as he slowly started to tap his thigh. "Haha...you're just like your father!" she called out as the laughter came out.**

**"Ok, ha-ha...laugh it up."**

**And she did. She held onto her stomach as she fell to the ground on her knees. Tears slowly poured out of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away with her free hand. She paused and breathed in, looking up at him punching his leg. The laughter came out harder now, her face red as a cherry. "I can't believe...your leg is cramped!"**

**He rolled his eyes and limped around in a circle. He looked down at Quistis, who was now lying on the ground on her back. **

And then the entire chapter of Chapter Eleven.

Thanks again for all the support and reviews!


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